“Mr. Grant is deceiving people all the time……”
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
June 23, 2009 (CUOPM)
Political Leader of the opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM), Mr. Lindsay Grant has come in for severe criticism.
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms. Marcella Liburd, sharing the platform with St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, leveled the charges at a public meeting at Fig Tree, Sandy Point.
Ms. Liburd, a practicing barrister pointed out that when the issue of dual nationality surfaced, Mr. Grant was severely critical of sitting members of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly and incumbent candidates of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party holding dual citizenship.
She noted that Mr. Grant in his usual pious attitude called for obedience to the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution, but at the same time failed to inform the public that he and his lone Parliamentarian, the Hon. Shawn Richards, were also citizens of the United States.
“Since the last election in 2004, he has been in a way, in breach of the constitution because he knew both had dual citizenship and he is still offering himself as a candidate. So when he is talking about obeying the Constitution, Lindsay Grant breaching the Constitution. Tell me if that is not deception?” asked Liburd.
When the dual nationality status of Mr. Richards was confirmed, Mr. Grant publicly stated that his lone Parliamentarian representing Constituency # 5, would resign his seat in the National Assembly, pay back all monies he was paid as a Member of Parliament from October 2004 and renounce his United States citizenship. Mr. Grant also said that members of his party who were holders of dual nationality when they were in government between 1980 and 1995 would also return monies earned to the Treasury. This too has not been done and Mr. Richards has rebuked his Party Leader for making those statements on his behalf without consulting him.
Providing evidence of Mr. Grant’s disrespect for the Court, Ms. Liburd pointed out that a few weeks ago, the Court issued an Order in a civil matter.
“Guess who was part and parcel of breaching the Court Order? Lindsay Grant participated in the breach of the Court Order. He said he is a lawyer and lawyers are supposed to be officers of the Court and if you are an Officer of the Court, then you have to behave that way. but not Lindsay Grant, he has participated, aided and abetted the breach of the Court Order,” Ms. Liburd reiterated.
She further questioned Mr. Grant’s ability to uphold the laws of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis when in government.
“He say you must vote for him to be the next Prime Minister. Could you imagine, if he is not even the Prime Minister yet and he breaching a Court Order and disobeying the Judge, what will happen if he gets in?” asked Ms. Liburd, the Central Basseterre Labour Party candidate who has replaced the retiring three-term Parliamentarian, Hon. Dwyer Astaphan as the candidate in the upcoming poll.
Describing Mr. Grant as arrogant, Ms. Liburd also referred to Grant’s criticism of the US$2 billion Christophe Harbour Development, while at the same time is the lawyer for several land transfer transactions in which he has personally benefitted by raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Mr. Grant is deceiving people all the time. He is publicly stating that he has a land policy not to sell land to foreigners, but at the same time he is saying that around St. Kitts, he doing work for the same foreigners through land and property transactions,” said Ms. Liburd, labeling the PAM leader as “deceptive, devious.”
“This Labour Party is not opposed to foreign investment. What we are saying is that if Mr. Grant publicly announces that all the land must be for local people alone, how come he is participating in land sales to the same foreigners and collecting monies. This is deception,” said Liburd.
Another sign of deception was PAM’s recent attendance at a meeting of its affiliate, the International Democratic Union in Jamaica. Mr. Grant attended a meeting of the IDU since he has been the political leader of PAM.
The IDU is a grouping of all right-wing political parties in the world including the Republican Party in the United States and the Conservatives in Britain.
“PAM is also affiliated with the pro-Apartheid parties in South Africa. A man is known by the company he keeps, so when you hear Mr. Grant is trying to say he is Obama deodorant, he is trying to deceive and fool the people, because the Republic Party and the PAM Party have the same political philosophy,” pointed out Liburd.
She told the massive crowd that the Youth Arm of the IDU convened a meeting in Jamaica and PAM was represented at that meeting.
Holding up a copy of the Democrat ““ the official mouthpiece of the People’s Action Movement, Ms. Liburd accused the PAM of fooling the people.
“PAM sent a representative to that meeting, but because they are trying to fool you they reported on the meeting but did not include in the report the name of the person who represented the organisation. If somebody is going to represent an organisation, what is the first thing you would want to know? Who went? But PAM did not include in the article who went. Why? Not only had that somebody gone. And nowhere in the article has it said the person went to represent PAM. They said the person went to represent St. Kitts. Why do you think they wrote the person went to represent PAM, but instead went to represent St Kitts? It is because PAM is trying to fool you. They are closely affiliated to the IDU, but they do not want you to know but did not put in the Democrat that PAM went; they wrote that St Kitts went and they did not put in the article that it was Denise Alleyne, the Editor of the Democrat who went to represent PAM. Do you think that the Democrat forget that. It is to fool you. But do not be fooled,” said Liburd.
She also noted that in an effort to again fool its readers, the article gave the impression that the IDU meeting in Jamaica discussed United States President Barack Obama in a positive light.
“What gross dishonesty. What total lack of integrity to give the impression that they discussed Obama in a positive light, when all the parties of the IDU including the Republican Party in the United States are totally against Obama. Again another example of PAM trying to fool the people,” said Liburd.