THE EDITOR:
I write to express my disgust with the way our media operates. The ruling party appears to be targetting UWP leader Allen Chastanet for criticism and attack by suggesting after every public statement he makes that he is either lying, is dishonest, does not know what he is talking about or does not understand the issue.
The idea, it seems, is to make Chastanet look so incompetent that the public will feel turned off by him. Ironically, the media, especially, the television media, appears to be in the government’s back pocket, pushing the same line. The media is also playing politics with its role when it allows paid operatives of the government, like the press secretary, to call in programmes on which the UWP leader is a guest to engage him in confrontation.
This is most unfair and people who hold high office must begin to act with better decorum than that. If you want to disagree with Chastanet, that is your right, but don’t call his programmes because he does not call yours.
I want to suggest to the ruling party that this line of attack is doomed to fail. There is widespread resentment against the government throughout St Lucia at this time and when come election day comes, it will be dumped. The ongoing attempts at mischief will not matter.
Sheldon Marquis
Castries
“The ruling party appears to be targetting UWP leader Allen Chastanet for criticism and attack by suggesting after every public statement he makes that he is either lying, is dishonest, does not know what he is talking about or does not understand the issue.”
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Unfortunately, this is politics; and since this technique has proven to be effective in a court of law; don’t be surprised if our so-called politicians, many of whom are lawyers, try to use it against Allen.
A case in point is the O.J. Simpson case, where, Mark Furhman, the detective who found the bloody glove on O.J.’s property was discredited: made out to be a liar, a racist, one who couldn’t be trusted, etc., etc. And in the end, O.J. was found not guilty.
So this is the same technique Kenny and the SLP is using against Allen; they are making him the Mark Furhman of the upcoming election.
Hey! Allen got into the political ring with the big boys, and now he’ll have to fight; after all, politics isn’t for the faint of heart.