FORMER Prime Minister Allen Chastanet last week spoke out for the first time following his party’s defeat at the polls.
The political leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) is questioning the government’s motives after Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre added Richard Frederick and Stephenson King to his Cabinet of Ministers and although Chastanet finds it hard to believe, he wished them the best, nonetheless.
“Richard Frederick, Stephenson King where are they now? Have they not been rewarded?” Chastanet questioned, further questioning the roles played by King and Frederick of late, both of whom at first claimed to be independents but are now seating as Ministers in a Labour government.
“You’re telling me that Labour put Richard Frederick not only in Cabinet (but) they put him in the Prime Minister’s office?” he said in disbelief.
“I wish them luck maybe they know something that we don’t know and hopefully it works for them but let us see, time will tell,” he said, sounding unconvinced.
Chastanet insists he’s not angry, however, his tone suggested otherwise.
“The same people who are pedaling the nonsense we can see today why they were doing it. Look where they have found themselves, it did not take long. You judge the character of a person by the friends that they keep; look at them!” he exclaimed.
Nonetheless, Chastanet maintains that his party will support the government whenever it does well, as its members have been duly elected by the people.
In reference to King saying that the UWP of today is not the same as the UWP of the past Chastanet said: “When I hear some people who were held in the highest esteem by United Workers Party, who have not participated in one meeting since 2007 would come and say they don’t recognize the party… how can you recognize it, (if) you’re not involved?”
Chastanet believes the UWP espouses the principles of its founders, however, he noted, the problems and times are different and the party has to make changes. And although the party lost the elections, he stated that it is stronger than ever. The UWP will also be doing an internal review to figure what went wrong.
“I do not want people to have the expectation that how the Labour Party performs in the House is what we’re going to do. We will remain vigilant and we will hold them accountable to the promises that they’ve made,” Chastanet said.