OPPOSITION Leader Philip J. Pierre has called out Prime Minister Allen Chastanet for his suggestion that the SLP has lost the right to be critical about St. Jude Hospital, saying it was arrogant on the PM to do so.
Last month, during the weekly Cabinet press conference, Chastanet was adamant that given the Labour Government’s failure to complete St. Jude Hospital, the SLP had lost the right to be critical of the UWP’s policies concerning that healthcare facility.
However, Pierre responded by calling Chastanet’s suggestion “arrogant” and stated that the Opposition has the right to represent those who voted for it and those who did not vote at all.
“We never lost our right,” stated Pierre, saying too that “The government was elected by the majority of the people to take the decisions on behalf of, not the people who elected them, but also on behalf of the entire population.”
“37, 000 people voted for the St. Lucia Labour Party” Pierre continued, stating that his Party’s “moral responsibility is to defend the interests of those people.”
He then called Chastanet’s claim that the SLP lost its right on June 6th to be critical where St. Jude was concerned as “arrogant.”
Pierre stated that he respects the fact that the majority chose Chastanet and the UWP at the June 6th poles, but stated emphatically that this does not mean that his party has lost its right to represent everybody else.
“The majority chose him — and we respect that. We’ve always respected the fact that the majority chose the United Workers Party. We’ve said so.
“But to allege that we’ve lost the right…We haven’t lost our right!
“Our right is to defend those 37,000 people who voted for us and those who did not vote. Somebody must represent them.” Pierre concluded.
