Will the real Philip J. Pierre please show your face!

Trying to find Philip J Pierre in his New Year’s address was a bit of a task. So much did his words and their tone echo those of his larger than life predecessor. Although this writer could not confirm the rumour, it is widely bruited about that Kenny Anthony’s speechwriter, when Anthony was prime minister, penned the New Year’s message delivered on Sunday by the House opposition leader. This might explain the contradictions, and the absence of any hint that an administration led by Pierre would be different from the one he served for over 20 years. The speech contained the usual finger-pointing at Allen Chastanet, which would not be so bad if anything remotely new was indicated. Almost echoing Kenny Anthony when last he was interviewed by Liberty FM’s Harvey Cenac, the would-be prime minister said: “Two widely accepted fundamental principles of good leadership are trust and honesty. I am committed to bringing these cherished values to the governance of Saint Lucia and would have no difficulty doing so, because my behaviour in government has suggested nothing conflicting. I entered politics to serve; not to be served.” 

What immediately came to mind was that Pierre had not given much thought to the fact that to have sat shoulder to shoulder, without comment, with the principal figure in the Ramsahoye Commission of Inquiry, delivered its own messages. But perhaps the most glaring ‘Pipism’ in Pierre’s speech came in the televised last paragraph, sub-headed ‘Restoring Hope and Confidence’. Said Pierre, “Under my leadership the St. Lucia Labour Party will work with you, the citizens of Saint Lucia, to reclaim Saint Lucia for Saint Lucians.” 

Reclaim from whom? Is that the revised version of the divisive, xenophobic, familiar “Friends, family and foreigners”? Does that mean foreign investors will be as vulnerable to reviews as in the time of Kenny Anthony? How does Pierre’s “reclaim Saint Lucia” line sit next to “Our foreign investment policy will be fair, transparent and investor-friendly, with the main objective being the creation of sustainable employment opportunities and the transfer of skills”? An afterthought, perhaps. 

Pierre declared: “We shall restore hope and confidence in the competence and capacity of Saint Lucians so that together we can chart and control our own destiny.” Did he mean to say Saint Lucians were not now in control of their destiny? When precisely was that control taken away from us? On June 6, 2016? Earlier, maybe? Could the line have represented a sly dig at Pierre’s predecessor, albeit with kid gloves? 

Pierre went on: “In charting a new path for the years ahead we cannot ignore the wrongs and injustices of the past. Never again must we allow so many blatant acts of government corruption. We shall therefore hold accountable all those responsible for acts of corruption and the misuse of public funds.”

We shall hold accountable all those responsible for acts of corruption and the misuse of public funds? Really? Only last year Pierre had assured reporters and others at a party press conference: “A Philip J. Pierre administration will not conduct an inquiry into a matter that it doesn’t think deserves an inquiry. That includes Grynberg and many other things.” (Writer’s emphasis)

By the prime minister’s account, the so-called Grynberg Affair has already cost the Saint Lucian taxpayer millions in legal defence fees, thanks to a breach of contract lawsuit brought by Jack Grynberg, in relation to a contract signed in 2000 by the American oilman and then prime minister and leader of the St. Lucia Labour Party. Pierre has on several occasions acknowledged he knows nothing about the deal that involved only Kenny Anthony, Grynberg and Earl Huntley. So much for his more recent position that “we cannot ignore the wrongs and injustices of the past”. How will the wrongs and injustices of the past be uncovered without an investigation?

More proof of Pierre’s flip-flopping nature—the following is taken from his contribution to the debate centred on the report of the Constitutional Reform Commission, back in 2015: “Mr. Speaker, I believe that the trend, or the belief, that politicians can get involved in corrupt practices is something we must try to dispel.” Was Pierre actually saying the widespread notion that politicians are corrupt or corruptible was a falsehood he and his colleagues “must try to dispel?” Still another contradiction: Only a few weeks before reintroducing Keith Mondesir to an SLP gathering, Pierre had promised that if elected to office he would enact an anti-corruption law ostensibly to keep government officials honest! No need to say more about Mondesir, who owes his special distinction to the Labour Party when Kenny Anthony was leader and Pierre his deputy! 

Back to Pierre’s New Year’s speech: “I believe that most Saint Lucians will agree to a vision for Saint Lucia that includes good governance, and that accountability, transparency and fairness, is [sic] promoted and widely accepted as an enabler and not an impediment in the pursuit of national development.” I think I got the intended message here. Then again, only Pierre’s speechwriter knows for certain what it might be!