18 October 2017
Saint Lucia Labour Party is questioning the temperament of Prime Minister Allen Chastanet
By SLP
PRESS RELEASE: The Saint Lucia Labour Party is questioning the temperament of Prime Minister Allen Chastanet after he responded to a reporter who questioned his failure to reply to the Opposition Motion during the debate on the Negative Resolution on the CIP Regulations at the last sitting of the House of Assembly. In response to the Reporter, the Prime Minister asked as follows: “Should it be every dog that barks that I should respond?” Effectively referring to the Opposition Parliamentarians as ‘barking dogs’. The reporter further explained that the Prime Minister’s failure to respond was seen as arrogant in some quarters.
The SLP believes the response of the Prime Minister is grossly disrespectful of Opposition Parliamentarians and is unbecoming of a Prime Minister. As Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly, Hon. Allen Chastenet has a responsibility to answer questions which are posed in the course of a debate and has an obligation to the people of Saint Lucia to be accountable through the procedures of Parliament.
The Labour Party demands that the Prime Minister should apologise to the Opposition Parliamentarians and withdraw his comments. He must appreciate that as Prime Minister he has to set higher standards of conduct and behaviour befitting the office he holds and set the standards for public life in Government.
