By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE sudden departure of Vinette Graham-Allen as Director of Public Prosecutions does not surprise FNM officials, some of whom yesterday said political interference may have caused her resignation.

According to a government press release on Thursday, Mrs Graham-Allen, a Jamaican lawyer appointed as DPP by the former Ingraham administration, “expressed the desire to be released from her contract with the government of the Bahamas so as to further her professional development and career.”

Her departure followed speculation about the status of her job after she took a three-month vacation in May.

Speaking to The Big T, FNM Chairman Darron Cash said he is surprised she lasted in the post as long as she did.

Initially, her appointment as DPP attracted scathing criticism from the PLP, several of whose members even staged a protest against her appointment the day she met staff of the Attorney General’s office in August, 2010.

“I am not surprised whatsoever at the departure of Mrs Graham Allen from her role as DPP,” Mr Cash said. “What does surprise me is that she lasted so long working for a government that was so obviously pushing for her to fail. Her early departure confirms what we have heard all along, that this kisses-go- by-favour government has very little commitment to an independent DPP.”

“The much talked about case of the nolle prosequi comes immediately to mind as a reminder that well connected people enjoy a lot of immunity in the Christie Government,” he said, referring to an incident when the Attorney General’s office discontinued a gun possession case against former clients of Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson when she was in private practice.

“From the Minister of Education who was hanging out with a convicted person who was running ground operations in their North Abaco by-election campaign to turning a blind eye to rich tax cheats, this government is soft on crime and soft on the criminals who commit them,” Mr. Cash claimed.

“Mrs Graham Allen could never survive in an environment like that.”

 FNM Deputy Chairman Dr Duane Sands also decried the unwelcome treatment of Mrs Graham-Allen when she took over the DPP’s post several years ago.

“I think that it was most unfortunate the way there was gratuitous politicisation of that post,” he said.

“This individual was made to feel most unwelcome and it was really pandering to an anti-foreign sentiment.”

He also referred to former Deputy DPP Cheryl Grant-Bethell whose claims of entitlement to the DPP post set off controversy and resulted in her taking legal action against the government.

“The PLP made a lot of hay over their so-called preferred candidate who, interestingly, now that the DPP has resigned, they passed over,” Dr Sands said. “Again, this is typical of their tactics. You raise an issue to get political mileage and then you abandon it. They made a big deal about believing in Bahamians and everything they have done has been countered to that policy.”

As a top medical professional often called to testify during trials, Dr Sands worked with Mrs Graham-Allen and described her as the consummate professional.

“I think her service to the Bahamas was exemplary based on my vantage point. In the direct contact I had with her I found her to be a true professional,” he said, adding: “Hopefully Mr Gaskins will bring a similar skill set and exemplary service to the Bahamian public to the table, but you really wonder whether an environment was created that was untenable for Mrs Graham-Allen to do her job.”