A Tale Of Contrasts

THE EDITOR:

DURING last year’s election campaign there was a sustained effort by the Labour Party to portray Allen Chastanet as an incompetent person, even one of low intelligence and mental capacity.

It was a most uncharitable characterization of a human being for anyone to make because there are people born all over the world, through no fault of their own, with diminished mental capacities.

But the reality with Chastanet is different from the Labour Party portrayal. I have listened to the Prime Minister on many occasions in recent months and on every occasion, I have found him to be sound coherent and fluent. He even is that way when speaking off the cuff, without a script. His press conferences are well delivered and in contrast to the last Prime Minister Allen Chastanet appears sincere and above all, credible.

This week, we had an opportunity to watch the Prime Minister side by side with one of his critics, Labour Party leader Philip Pierre, and to the surprise of everyone, it was Pierre who seemed to be suffering from the conditions that had been tagged on Chastanet. It was Pierre who seemed incoherent, unable to give us a single sentence that made any sense. In fact, Pierre was at sea explaining himself and his position while Chastanet was clear as daylight in his delivery and where he stood on issues.

I checked your newspaper yesterday to see if there was a report on that debate and voila, there it was. My intention was to see whether I had got it wrong and whether my verdict on Pierre’s delivery was accurate.

Again, there it was. The Labour Party leader is quoted, quoted I repeat, in several instances in THE VOICE article and I am still at pains to determine exactly what it is that he was saying.

I didn’t know much about Allen Chastanet before he became Prime Minister having been away for several years but he impresses me greatly as a leader. He is respectful to everyone and is not haughty. Most of all, he is believable. We cannot ask more of a leader.

–Cyrus M. Actie