Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson’s reported disclosure of advice on Samuel “Ninety” Knowles’ extradition has damaged the country’s system of government, the FNM said yesterday.
Knowles was extradited to the United States last Monday, made his initial appearance before a Miami magistrate on Thursday and is to be arraigned tomorrow.
On August 23 The Bahama Journal reported that Mrs Maynard-Gibson had recommended that the Minister of Foreign Affairs sign a warrant of surrender, which would permit Knowles to be extradited. She has since failed to return numerous calls seeking clarification on her reported advice.
The FNM said in a press statement that the Attorney General, by reportedly revealing her advice, had “put pressure on her Cabinet colleagues to cause an extradition order to be signed by the Foreign Affairs Minister. Up to now, Mrs [Maynard] Gibson has not denied nor attempted to clarify what she was reported in the press to have done, so the public is justified in concluding that she did indeed try to publicly pressure her colleagues in this serious matter.”
Added the Opposition: “Mrs Gibson is a lawyer of many years standing and she understands, or ought to understand, the conventions governing the exercise of her duties as the chief legal adviser to the Government. Under no circumstances should she indicate publicly what advice she gave the Government or to a ministerial colleague in this or any matter.”
Saying that Prime Minister Perry Christie appeared powerless to act on “this scandalous disarray in government and the persistent abuse of the Cabinet conventions,” the FNM added: ” Furthermore, in the face of high public anxiety over the allegation that the extradition may have been premature, we hear nothing but a deafening and contemptuous silence from the PLP Government.”
The Tribune reported Friday that Richard Blankenship, the former US Ambassador, had touted Mrs Gibson Maynard-Gibson as a potential deputy prime minister or prime minister over her reported role in the Knowles’ extradition.
“It may very well have put her on the top rungs of the PLP leadership,” the Tribune quoted the former envoy as saying.
Asked during an interview with The Nassau Guardian if Mr Blankenship’s comments represented the views of the United States Government, U.S. Ambassador John Rood said: “In no way is it an opinion of the United States Government. There are millions of people in the United States and every one of them has an opinion. It’s irrelevant.”
Ambassador Rood said: “I speak for the United States, I speak for the President; or others that are designated to speak in the Embassy speak for the United States. No private citizen speaks for the United States. And since I’ve been here, I’ve paid a lot of attention to not getting involved in what I consider are internal issues in The Bahamas. And clearly, commenting on who should be the prime minister is not something that the United States gets involved in.”
The US ambassador said it was wrong for a media house to imply that private individuals spoke for the United States.
By: RAYMOND KONGWA, The Nassau Guardian
