Holy Cross Member of Parliament Sidney Stubbs on Tuesday scored what many in government said was a major victory for the Christie Administration and the bankrupt MP when he came to a ﾓscheme of arrangementﾒ with his creditors to pay off his debts fully.
This appeared to nudge him closer to clearing up a matter that has dragged on now for more than a year.
The Bahama Journal learnt that the creditors included Imperial Life Assurance, Felix Bowe, a businessman, and Gina Gonzalez ﾖ whose case against Mr. Stubbs led to Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Thompson declaring him bankrupt last March.
Sources said the debts amounted to over $200,000 and Mr. Stubbs agreed to payment arrangements over certain periods.
Government officials who spoke with The Journal last night expressed relief upon hearing the news.
In January, Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall had determined that under the Bankruptcy Act, Mr. Stubbs had to settle his debts with all existing creditors before his bankruptcy order could be annulled.
It had constituted what was widely considered a major setback for the bankrupt MP, who had been inching dangerously close to the end of the six-month time extension the House of Assembly approved in September.
The government was forced to call a special sitting of the House during Holy Week to bring another controversial resolution to parliament to secure another three months for Mr. Stubbs to have the matter cleared up.
His attorney, Philip ﾓBraveﾒ Davis, confirmed that Mr. Stubbs had filed leave to appeal to the Privy Council, which was expected to say next month whether it would hear that appeal.
Mr. Stubbsﾴ legal team would have to withdraw the appeal to the Privy Council before going back to Sir Burton to seek to have the order annulled, a legal source close to the case explained after the creditorsﾴ meeting.
But sources pointed out that there is no automatic guarantee that Mr. Stubbs would be cleared by the court.
For instance, they indicated, the court could refuse to annul or discharge the order for various reasons, including if it finds that the behaviour of the bankrupt was reprehensible.
Mr. Stubbs told The Bahama Journal last night that he had no comment. When asked whether he was relieved, his only response was ﾓWhat do you think?ﾒ
Prime Minister Perry Christie had been facing the possibility of calling a bye-election and said in the House of Assembly recently that if Mr. Stubbsﾴ appeal to the Privy Council failed, there would be an election.
It is something that Free National officials have been pushing for.
There was no indication last night regarding when Mr. Stubbs will be back before the Supreme Court.
Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
