By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis Administration continues to forcefully reject Opposition Leader Michael Pintard’s assertion that “a bag of passports” was found on a Bahamasair flight, with senior officials now accusing him of spreading a false story that stokes “xenophobic attitudes” and undermines national institutions.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said the claim collapsed after the airline, the Passport Office and police all confirmed no such incident occurred, adding that anyone “with sense” should withdraw it.

“It is trying to feed on xenophobic attitudes amongst Bahamians,” he said. “It is as reprehensible as what happened in Abaco, and in some ways way worse, because it seeks to take advantage of what is not good character and good motivation.

“The very sad thing about the leader the opposition, who says he wants to be prime minister, is if he has this evidence, he has not managed to come forward with it to anybody. I don't know if he's shown it to you all, but he's not managed to come forward with it to anybody.

“If it is phantom, if he was misled, it shows that he is easily misled, and not somebody who should be trusted to run a school, much less a country.”

Mr Munroe said Mr Pintard is no longer positioning himself to become government but is instead fighting to hold on to his leadership, accusing him of using fear and resentment to stay politically afloat.

The PLP escalated the pushback in a later press statement, issuing what it called a “direct call” to the opposition leader. The party said the Commissioner of Police, the Chief Passport Officer, and Bahamasair’s managing director and chairman have all confirmed no passport incident occurred.

“There is no report. There is no investigation. No employee was dismissed. His claim stands without a single fact behind it,” the statement said.

“The leader of the opposition has a clear pattern of reckless statements that fall apart the moment they are checked. This one goes even further. If he has evidence, he must release it publicly and deliver it to law enforcement today. If he cannot do so, then he must acknowledge that he lied.

“The PLP will not allow the public to be misled with false stories that undermine confidence in national institutions. Matters involving passports and security carry serious weight, and they demand honesty, not fictional claims for political attention. The Bahamian people deserve truth and respect from those who seek to lead. The Leader of the Opposition must act today. Produce the evidence or admit the lie.”

Mr Pintard nevertheless insisted yesterday that his party will “not retreat,” accusing the government of dishonesty across multiple areas of governance.

“This is a government not at all committed to transparency. We'll continue to raise questions in every area of our national life as we’ve been doing as we've been doing on procurement and the way they manage the economy, in the way they address immigration issues, in the failure to report on the criminal activities that have occurred within the country that they have knowledge of,” he said.

“There are many matters that they simply will not be truthful about they weren't truthful about BPL or transplant in terms of how they're executing the privatisation. Yes, we are prepared to stand up if Bahamians, who are whistleblowers are going to have confidence that they can share information with us.”

“They must know we are prepared to fight for them. So every day, we are prepared to fight the PLP and the corruption that exists, the lies that they tend to tell. We will not retreat. No retreat, no surrender.”

Pressed about the government’s denials, he said: “This government is prone to lie on any number of matters. So we're not, we're not surprised by anything that they say.”