Dr. Anthony’s New Year Address on Monday.
PRIME Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony will deliver his New Year address on Monday night, an event that will have more than passing interest for St Lucians at home and abroad, and some foreign governments as well.
According to an announcement this week from the Prime Minister’s office, the address will give Dr. Anthony “the opportunity to speak to the nation at length on matters of interest ranging from the economy, unemployment, and national security, to investment, energy policy, and foreign relations.”
The Prime Minister would also share with the nation his thoughts on the outlook for 2016, the announcement said.
That address could be one of the most important in Dr. Anthony’s career. It comes at the beginning of a year in which general elections will be held, a year in which his legacy in the politics of this country could well come to end.
Additionally, the address is being highly anticipated, both here and abroad,, coming in the midst of the serious storm clouds that have been gathering in recent months that have brought this island under the international microscope. Even now, our country is embroiled in an unlikely controversy that threatens to undermine its long standing relationship with the former “mother country” United Kingdom.
St Lucia is currently under the international radar as a result of the ongoing controversy over the IMPACS report and allegations of extra judicial killings by police.
There have also been concerns about the island’s state of human rights, which resulted in a European Union delegation visiting earlier this month for talks with the government.
The appointment of a Saudi Arabian billionaire as St Lucia’s representative to the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) has also sparked controversy after it was revealed that the man, WalidJuffali had received his diplomatic posting after his ex-wife had sued him for divorce in a British court.
The fact that St Lucians were unaware of Juffali’s appointment until the British press broke the story about the divorce added more fuel to the fire and the circumstances of the appointment became questionable. The result was a government statement that sought to clarify the issue but only raised more questions.
The Anthony government has flatly turned down a British government request that it lifts the immunity granted to Juffali as a result of his diplomatic post to allow him to testify in the court which is currently hearing the suit.
This week, the court in London ordered Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to certify whether the British government had in fact accepted Juffali as a St Lucia diplomat.
The news circulating the British capital is that there is no record of Juffali attending any meetings of the IMO since his appointment in April 2014. In fact, the reports say, the Saudi has no known qualifications in shipping or maritime matters.
Lawyers representing Juffali’s ex-wife, the former model Christina Estrada, are arguing that the fact that Juffali had never attended an IMO meeting and was not performing any diplomatic functions means that he should not be accepted as a genuine diplomat with full immunity.
But Juffali’s lawyers say that the Foreign Office had written a letter “accepting” Juffali at the time of his appointment,
The case continued during the week, but there were signs that the St Lucia position in refusing to lift Juffali’s immunity has not gone down well with the British government although London has made no formal statement on the matter.
But St Lucians have been calling for more details about Juffali’s appointment given the embarrassment it is causing the country in the international community at the very time there are other concerns about conditions on the island that have cast St Lucian in unfavourable light..
Many St Lucains have been using the Juffali affair to express fears about the future of the Citizenship by Investment Programme launched earlier this month. Also, the claims that there are too many persons, known supporters and operatives of the ruling party associated with the programme, have not helped either.
Which many st. Lucians that ate concerned about our relationship with the UK? It is only coming from the mouth of Allen Chastenet and his cohorts.
This so called affair has only been conjured up by unscrupulous and mischievous persons. Even your man, former high commissioner, Eldridge Stephens, had never attended any meeting (specifically the ones he was not certified to attend). This has been proven!
Thus matter has been debunked and laid to rest. Leave it alone.
Sad to see Saint Lucians who have Political interest are trying their best to represent foreign interest in the face of the Populace.
And even this Newspaper is doing a poor representation and is showcasing it’s ignorance at understanding the UK laws regarding divorce, Diplomatic immunity,etc.
You people show NO Pride. But rather showcasing ignorance at all levels.
The fact remains that Juffali invoked diplomatic immunity to avoid a civil court case in the UK. He used us and threw this country into hot water unnecessarily and he must have used that St. Lucian passport with the agreement of the St. Lucian government. The government has refused to back down despite it now being revealed that the “Ambassador” has been revealed to be sick in bed with cancer in Switzerland. Instead government operatives have chosen to attack the validity of stories carried in the Telegraph, the Independent, Daily Mail and the Sun. Chastenet, the UK press and Entrada have not done this, Juffali has.
Margaret, I will leave ignorance (or perceived ignorance) alone. They say ignorance is bliss but I dare say . . . not in your case.
Unfortunately this continues to cast such bad light on St. Lucia. There is absolutely no transparency and this affair is shameful and embarrassing. I would never expect such scandalous behaviour from a government. How can the government have allowed Juffali to invoke immunity in St. Lucia’s name in a case that was obviously going to gain international exposure. See the following:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/saintlucia/12118577/Abuse-of-diplomatic-immunity-has-to-stop.html
It is interesting to juxtapose this with the situation in Dominica . Diplomatic passports, untold wealth and suspicious transactions:
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Commentary%3A-From-Rags-to-Riches%3F-In-search-of-Roosevelt-Skerrit's-millions-28852.html
If Juffali loves Saint Lucia as much as Kenny claims he would leave us out of his personal affairs. He should not have invoked immunity and put Saint Lucia in a position of having to defend his position as so called diplomat. This is not Chastenet or UWP doing. This is Juffali and SLP’s doing. The government has responded to the UK why is it that the UK are still pursuing this. Now they are asking for an investigation to ascertain whether Juffali is truly a diplomat. Why? These people are not stupid! Are they actually investigating whether Juffali is real diplomat or are they now investigating what changed hands and why are we bending backwards to defend this man.
So y’all have shifted the goal post. The argument used to be “the government did something underhanded”, ” he became our rep because he was being sued”. Both of these aeguments have been debunked and now “he should not have invoked immunity because of moral issues”.
Immunity is not his to invoke, it is St. Lucia’s. It is our sovereign right as a sovereign state. We did nothing wrong. The persons who have dragged us in the mud is Chastenet, Rigobert, Guy, and their British MP puppet.
If this man has never acted as an Ambassador, never done anything for St. Lucia, never signed any memorandum of understanding, why is being allowed to use a St. Lucian Diplomatic passport to avoid the courts in the UK?
Apparently he has only visited St. Lucia once and wants to engage in philanthropy at some undefined time in the future. Is that enough reason to give him something as precious as a St. Lucian Diplomatic passport? Is this worth being labelled a corrupt nation?
Juffali needed this passport to avoid this court case plain and simple. There is no rational reason for him being given a Diplomatic passport in such a short space of time. This is highly irregular. We can only speculate as to what type of deal was done. It was certainly done behind closed doors as most people learnt about this appointment through the foreign press. Perhaps the British government will get to the bottom of it.
This statement from Mark Stephens, an eminent Commonwealth lawyer says it all:
“The stunning fortuity of the appointment’s timing cannot be ignored either. After separating from Ms Estrada in October 2013, Mr Juffali is alleged to have visited the Caribbean island for the first time less than two months later. Within 12 weeks the IMO was notified of the St Lucian government’s request to appoint him to the role. On the September 4 2014 he was finally added to the London Diplomatic List. Just 13 days later, once immunity was secured, he divorced Ms Estrada in Saudi Arabia without her knowledge.”
Mark Stephens seems to be highly qualified to comment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Stephens_%28solicitor%29