At the House session of Tuesday 28th February, 2023 Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre sought permission to borrow of US$5.2 million, to be used for the bolstering of the health system in the on-going fight against COVID-19.
It didn’t take long before the mood changed from ominously tense into an atmosphere reminiscent of a fish-market brawl. The day began, in the absence of the usual priest, with the Speaker praying for divine guidance. But soon the Prime Minister, rising on a point of order, announced that the lone opposition representative in attendance had misled the House when he said that despite the government boasted a national security minister and a home affairs minister there had been no reference to the four fatal shootings that had marred the nation’s 44th anniversary of Independence. The opposition leader’s attempt at explaining himself was drowned out by noise makers on the government side.
When the Opposition Leader persistently protested, the Speaker warned him to stick to the Order Paper. Meanwhile the heckling rose several decibels. At one point the Speaker warned the target that if he did not concentrate on the bill before the House he would suffer in consequence. (Several weeks earlier, on TV, he had warned critics of the governing party that “the gloves are off,”d he would no longer suffer their barbs in silence, that “whether they were dwarfs or giants,” he would strike back with every weapon at his disposal including his “bazooka.” The public threat had resulted in many referring to the Speaker as “Bazookaman.” On Tuesday, he relied on another powerful weapon in his arsenal—the House Standing Orders. Addressing the opposition leader Allen Chastanet over the noise of the hecklers, he said: “It’s either you listen to me or you don’t speak. These are the rules.”
Chastanet insisted on drawing the Speaker’s attention to the hecklers. He pleaded with the Speaker to afford him the protection afforded him by the House Standing Orders: “Please ask the members on the other side to listen to me in silence.”
The Speaker: “Do not debate with me, Member for Micoud South. If you continue to debate with me, I will order you to take your seat.” Chastanet said he was not debating, he simply was requesting the Speaker to quell the noise. “Mr. Speaker,” he repeated, “I’m asking you for basic protection. You’re supposed to be protecting me. If you want me to be able to speak, then ask them to listen to me in silence in accordance with the rules.”
Soon afterward, the Speaker carried out what the whole country must’ve anticipated. He ordered the sole opposition voice in the House to take his seat in silence. No doubt as many viewers also expected Chastanet’s next move. Following a few pointed remarks at his hecklers, he collected his papers and exited the chamber. His final words were, “Shame on you. I will leave you to the people of Saint Lucia!”
As he went by, the MP for Vieux Fort north, clenched fist held high, shouted: “You never had respect for us.” Just what Moses Jn Baptiste meant by “us” is anyone’s guess. Some who talked with me about the incident insisted the MP was hinting at Chastanet’s skin color, a major bone of contention during the 2021 elections campaign. “Look at you,” he fumed, “the children are looking at your behavior.” He referred to several young law students who were specially invited to attend the process by which Saint Lucia would adopt the CCJ as its Apex court. It would be interesting to hear from the students on which the considered more eye-opening, the process itself or the 15 to one war it triggered!
Meanwhile, the member for Dennery north seemed busy recording the whole debacle on his mobile device, apparently unobserved by the Speaker. Again, it is anyone’s guess what was the MP’s purpose. Did he plan to add the latest House incident to his Tiktok profile? His Instagram Reel, maybe?
Then it was time for the Central Castries MP to deliver his predictable contribution to the day’s House activity. “I could not believe this was the Leader of the Opposition,” he decried, citing his favorite pale-skinned bête noire. “The very same man who gave $7 million to his brother-in-law.” Since the Speaker did not intervene, it must be presumed the MP’s remarks had some relevance to the bill before the House. There were other seemingly disconnected references to Fresh Start, Lockerbie, Teo Ah King, Sandals, the Range Developers, Daher Mall and Chastanet’s stay at a UK hotel that charged 2,000 pounds a night. What any of that had to do with COVID, only the MP and the Speaker know. There were no directives to “stick to the bill.”
The day’s proceedings continued without the presence of any Opposition MPs. The House record would, therefore, show that the bill to facilitate the changeover from the Privy Council to the CCJ was debated and passed—by a unanimous vote. Yet another reminder of Winston Churchill’s observation that “history is written by the victors,” that history is not grounded in facts, that it’s the winners’ interpretation of facts that prevails. The victors force their narrative on the people!
