After the suspension of the opposition leader, Allen Chastanet from the House of Assembly on Tuesday 2nd May, 2023 for the refusal of retracting statements made against SLP member Richard Fredrick.
Allen Chastanet has announced he has no intent on apologizing and retracting his statements in fact, he says he will be seeking legal action against the speaker of the house Claudius Francis.
In a press conference held on Wednesday 4th May, 2023 opposition Dominic Fedee has called for the resignation of Claudius Francis declaring that he has failed to carry out his duties and the ability to be objective.
“Mr. Speaker you are crumbling the very fabric of our democracy.” he stated.
“With the greatest amount of respect, I believe you should resign. You have shown on more than one occasion that you lack the ability to be objective.” he added.
Fedee says the Speaker has previous affiliations with the ruling party as he served as the former vice chairman for the party which causes him to lack the ability to be objective and is calling for his resignation.
“You have been the former vice chairman of The Saint Lucia Labor Party and so you have been the main voice for many many years speaking in favor and advocating for the political aspirations of the Saint Lucia Labor Party.”
“You have not shown the public of Saint Lucia that you are able to be objective and to remove yourself from the political relationship that you have with the ruling party. So whilst there’s always going to be the potential for conflict of interest, but in this case, there is not just the potential, a court order agrees with me that your rulings have been unconstitutional, that your rulings have been undemocratic, your rulings have been null and void if we apply the basic principles of parliamentary democracy. Mr. Speaker, please resign.” he declared.
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