OBA stays tight-lipped after meetings
Premier Craig Cannonier’s political future is likely to hinge on the outcome of an internal investigation expected to conclude this week.
During the past two days there have been intensive top level meetings for the One Bermuda Alliance. MPs and the Party executive gathered at the OBA’s Reid Street headquarters for hours at a time, engaged in what The Royal Gazette understands to be an airing of different views.
The meetings were held in the wake of the Opposition Progressive Labour Party calling for the Premier and his Cabinet to resign following fresh revelations over the year-long ‘Jetgate’ affair.
US developer Nathan Landow confirmed in Friday’s Bermuda Sun that he and other businessmen contributed $300,000 to aid the OBA’s 2012 election campaign. Three months after winning that election Mr Cannonier, Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell and Attorney General Mark Pettingill flew on a private jet owned by Mr Landow and met the developer in Washington DC.
Last week OBA chairman Thad Hollis said the Party was investigating claims that Mr Landow had donated to the party.
Yesterday he characterised the weekend meetings as “clarification”, adding that the inquiry was ongoing and that a statement would be issued on the matter only when this investigation had run its course.
The US-based OBA consultant, Derrick Green [see sidebar] also said on Saturday that the statement by Mr Hollis was likely to come later this week.
“We have had a good meeting, a fruitful meeting,” Mr Cannonier said. “I can simply state we will continue with our inquiry and the chairman will have a statement soon.”
Backbencher Leah Scott, who had earlier publicly chastised the OBA for creating “mistrust” by not releasing full details on the ‘Jetgate’ controversy, said simply: “I believe in transparency.”
And, as he left Saturday’s meeting, Mr Pettingill said he wouldn’t be stepping down.
The AG did not respond last night to questions from this newspaper over Opposition hints that he intended to take up a job in the private sector.
Ministers and other MPs have declined to comment on the meetings, calling them “productive” — and the OBA membership last night held their silence, deferring to Mr Hollis’s statement.
More meetings are expected this week.
“We are going to continue on,” Mr Cannonier said at 2pm yesterday. “We are going to continue on as we have already been doing.”
Saturday’s meeting coincided with Mr Cannonier’s 51st birthday, and came exactly 17 months after the 2012 election that swept the OBA to power.
This newspaper understands that his future is imperilled by inconsistencies in Mr Cannonier’s statements on Mr Landow.
There is also confusion over the fate of the $300,000 donation made by Mr Landow and others toward the Party’s campaign.
OBA parliamentarians have demanded full disclosure over ‘Jetgate’ — the details of which have emerged piecemeal in local media, in a situation Ms Scott likened to “death by a thousand cuts” in an online statement.
The lengthy meetings were said to be a result of the pent-up views of MPs left confused over the Landow meeting, which Mr Cannonier has maintained was strictly in the country’s interests.
As of last night, numerous other OBA Ministers and MPs were known to have met privately, and sources close to the Party described Mr Cannonier’s future as in danger — while others said the OBA was unlikely to oust him.
At the centre of a storm of controversy over Premier Craig Cannonier’s dealing with US developer Nathan Landow is the fate of a $300,000 donation made to the One Bermuda Alliance.
Mr Landow acknowledged in Friday’s Bermuda Sun that he and six other Washington, DC-based businessmen had given to the OBA’s campaign.
However, he branded suggestions that the Premier had asked him personally for money “ridiculous” — and said he hadn’t expected to reap any benefits from the contribution.
ZBM subsequently reported that the money went to the Bermuda Political Action Club, and that two signatories on its Butterfields account weren’t members of the OBA.
Political consultant Derrick Green, who attended Saturday’s emergency session at the OBA headquarters, last night responded to questions about BPAC from The Royal Gazette: “Because of the internal investigation, I’m not able to speak on the matter — I cannot until after the OBA chairman comes out with his findings.”
The Maryland-based consultant confirmed that he’d been with the OBA since its 2011 formation, and had advised the Opposition Bermuda Democratic Alliance that preceded it.
However, Mr Green and other OBA associates contacted last night by this newspaper declined to comment in detail, citing the expected statement by chairman Thad Hollis on the internal inquiry into the donation and how it was used.
