Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has said that the recent comparison made by Premier Andrew Fahie between the governor’s legal bill in his upcoming Commission of Inquiry hearing and the Speaker of the House of Assembly’s $120,000 legal bill, is a tactic being used to distract the public from the real issue.
Penn made that comment in a recent interview with 284News where he said the two cases were in no way relatable or comparable.
He said the act by the premier to bring the motion despite a court ruling was a total abuse of authority and abuse of taxpayers’ money.
“What I would say is that it’s just blowing smoke in mirrors by the premier because it’s like comparing apples to oranges. The Speaker of the House went to carry a matter to the court which he had no authority to carry to the court and he also used a legal support that was for another purpose for this purpose. He asserted his power, he acted outside of his scope and he is now coming back and asking the people of this territory, the premier is asking the people of this territory to pay for his folly and that should not happen,” Penn stated.
He added, “He’s conflated two different things in terms of what the governor is asking and trying to blow smokes in mirrors and distract the public from the real issue at hand. A total abuse of power, abuse of the public purse by the Speaker via the premier, because he is condoning it, he’s supporting it through his Cabinet and his members of government. So, this is a total abuse of authority.”
Government prioritizing the wrong things
Penn said that the VIP government is presently prioritizing the wrong things, considering all the issues the territory is presently facing.
He labelled the act by the sitting government as a mismanagement of the public purse.
He said, “My position still stands as I said to you before, I do not support this motion. I believe the premier is not within his rights to do what he is trying to do with the House of Assembly. He’s trying to evade the authority of the judiciary and he’s trying to use the House of Assembly to make a decision that the House of Assembly does not have the authority to make, and the reality is it’s an abuse of power, it’s an abuse of public purse.”
“Here it is in a situation where the territory has limited financial resources because of COVID, because of mismanagement, we now have to scrabble with the limited money that we have to do the things we need to do in terms of physical infrastructure and here it is the premier is asking the territory, asking the people to pay over $100,000 plus for a frivolous legal case brought by the Speaker which he had no authority to bring,” Penn further explained.
The Opposition Legislator said that he has conducted his own investigations on the matter and will be bringing his findings before the House of Assembly when proceedings resume at 2pm today Wednesday November 3.
Penn’s comments were a direct response to the recent statement made by Premier Fahie in the House of Assembly.
Premier Fahie said that there is a disparity in the decision to have Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock subjected to pay his legal bill as a private citizen, when the governor who will be represented by a legal team in an upcoming COI hearing will have his bill footed by taxpayers.
The premier in essence was justifying why the government is moving forward with the motion to exempt Willock from paying the more than $120,000 legal bill.