The jet-setting premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands resigned Monday, a week earlier than expected, following an investigation that found “clear signs” of corruption in the eight-island British dependency.
Michael Misick, who had previously promised to resign on March 31, said he was stepping down early to give his successor more time to set up a new government – even as Britain plans to dissolve the territory’s Cabinet and legislature following the wide-ranging U.K. corruption inquiry.
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“I now announce that I will tender my resignation effective today as premier to allow the new PNP party leader to become premier,” Misick said during a brief televised address in the Atlantic islands located between Haiti and the Bahamas.
With two private jets on call, Misick and his Hollywood actress wife, Lisaraye McCoy, lived like the stars who inhabit the territory where Bruce Willis got married over the weekend. McCoy has said that she used a government-leased jet to vacation in Africa, visit her daughter in Switzerland and commute from Los Angeles. The couple, who have split, also leased a Rolls-Royce and spent more than $1 million on the interior design of their home. Misick has denied abusing public funds.
He says his lifestyle allowed him to court high-end developers and helped put the British territory on the map. Since he took office, the gross domestic product in the territory of 22,000 people has more than doubled to $750 million – largely through a resort-building boom.
But Misick’s financial dealings also are the focus of a British investigative commission that is looking into allegations that members of his party misused public money and profited from the sale of government-owned land.
The commission is expected to issue a final report later this year.
The London-educated lawyer and realty broker had previously said he would step down because his scandal-plagued government has lost the public’s support.
Earlier this month, the London-appointed governor, Gordon Wetherell, said the British investigators found “clear signs of political amorality and immaturity” in Turks and Caicos. He said an order has been drafted to suspend parts of the British territory’s constitution and transfer the authority of government ministers to him.
The order will be submitted to the queen for approval on Wednesday before going to Parliament, which issued a report that first found complaints of rampant corruption.
Misick was elected in 2003 to lead the islands after eight years in the opposition. In 2007, he was sworn in for a second four-year term after leading his party to a sweeping victory, capturing all but two of 15 parliamentary seats.
His successor as premier, Galmo Williams, won a three-way fight to lead the ruling Progressive National Party at a convention in early March.
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