Bird said that Daniel had put the interest of the country above party politics when he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer requesting the inquiry.

“This letter is very, very important. You can go down the list and he has given several reasons as to why he is taking this position and it is clear it is not just for his own situation as a minister.

“I don’t see anything in here in which he is fundamentally challenging the UPP (Unity Progressive Party) party. I don’t see anything in which he is fundamentally challenging Baldwin Spencer only in so far as he shows that a lot of things have been done which (are) not in the interest of the people of this country.”

In his letter to Prime Minister Spencer, which was reproduced in the local media, Daniel said that the “time has come in my political life when I must decide whether the platform and government of which I am a part is serving the best interest of the country or losing the trust which was placed in us since the elections of 2004 and continued in 2009”.

He told Prime Minister Spencer that he takes his oath of office very seriously and that he is having “many sleepless nights” contemplating many issues affecting the country under his administration.

Prime Minister Spencer has stoutly defended his country’s relationship with China as controversy continues to swirl about the condition of electricity generators at the recently commission US$47 million China-funded power plant.

Spencer has described as “unpatriotic and dangerous” the attacks by the main opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and sections of the media to derail the relationship between the two states, saying in January that the 30-megawatt power plant is fully functional and providing reliable power.

The ALP has been clamouring for full disclosure following the publication of pictures showing what appeared to be aged generators.