CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet has defended his decision not to apologize for statements alleging government corruption even as Parliament suspended him.
“The Parliament sanctioned me, and I was forced to walk out to defend democracy in this country,” Chastanet said in a post on his social media platform, adding, “I refuse to give an apology for a lie that (Housing Minister) Richard Frederick told.”
On Tuesday, Speaker Claudius Francis told Chastanet, one of two opposition legislators, that he had yet to make out a case last weekend when the Opposition Leader spoke about the sale of land at Bananes, on the outskirts of the capital.
Francis said that what is before him “is not whether the land is valued at EC$20 or EC$60 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents)
“It’s whether the transaction in the sale of the land to a client of an attorney, whether corruption was attached to that sale,” Francis said, adding, “You have not made that case.
“I am the judge in this Chamber, and I would ask you to withdraw the statements that I have read,” the Speaker said, but Chastanet stood his position, saying he would not.
But as he prepared to leave the Chamber, the Speaker instructed the police officers on duty to prevent him from going.
However, Chastanet exited the Chamber, followed by two police officers, returning shortly. The Speaker citing the Standing Order, then sought to determine what sanctions, if any, could be imposed on the Opposition Leader for disregarding the Chair’s authority.
The Leader of Government Business, Dr. Ernest Hilaire, said Chastanet should be asked to apologize, and failure to do so should not be allowed into the Chamber.
“Such disrespect in the House cannot continue, Mr. Speaker,” Hilaire said, even as the Speaker indicated that the Chair’s discretion was limited to the maximum of the next sitting.
But Francis explained that there was no such limitation on the House.
“If you ask me to put your question to the House, which is that the member – the Honourable Allen Chastanet, … be asked to withdraw the statement, issue an apology, failing which this Honourable House shall rule that he is not to be allowed within the precincts of the House until he does so – Is that your question, Leader of Government Business?”
Parliament later voted in favor of the suspension.
But in his social media posting, Chastanet said that a 2013 evaluation of the land was EC$67 a square foot, with another evaluation in 2021 being EC$35 a square foot.
“The land was sold for EC$27 a square foot. Even more egregious is that the land was not even put out to tender. A piece of land that should never have been sold in the first place,” Chastanet said, adding that Frederick had not spoken to government ministers, including Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre, about the sale.
“If we are to believe him and also he wanted to do was sell the land for a maximum amount of money …then why didn’t he put it out to tender,” Chastanet said, noting the Speaker’s decision to “side” with the Housing Minister.
“He is asking me as an MP to prove that there was corruption. My job as the Leader of the Opposition and as an MP in Parliament is to question and hold this government accountable.
“It is for them to satisfy all of there is no corruption. Why is the government refusing to answer basic questions? Why wasn’t it put out for tender?
“All of us are St. Lucians. We all live here; where can you buy waterfront land in Castries for EC$27 a square foot,” he said, calling on the authorities to state the name of the person who bought the land.
and then 