WILL JANINE SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS HER DADDY?

 

"The AG echoed the same position (as the Foreign Minister) and went on  to state further that there was no cause for alarm for the US action against the Minister; yet, he said that he had absolutely no knowledge of the basis for the action by the US State Department. That . . . represented the highest level of legal irrationality coming from the mouth a government’s chief legal advisor. The ministers were pussyfooting on a matter of the gravest concern to the St. Lucian public and the US State Department which involved allegations of “narco-trafficking” and links to murder, according to the FBI and CIA."

Janine is the only scientist in the House of Assembly and does she exude an aura of science about her! She’s parsimonious, clinical, unassuming, open-minded, explorative, logical, persistent and so on.

However, it’s not the science in her that impresses me; it’s the bravery, the heroism that circumscribes her.  The more I study this lone lady parliamentarian in our House, the more I see of her father - Sir John. If she survives the current political “tempest” and then goes on for only one-quarter of her father tenure, then there’s every reason to believe that she will leave an indelible mark on our political lanscape! But I fear that her tenure might be short-lived.

Janine has hardly embarked on her political journey and already there are alleged threats on her life. If I am to go by the text, BB and email messages that are circulating in cyberspace, then I must - unlike our ministers - be gravely concern about the state of affairs in my native St. Lucia. I dare to go further and say that “revocation of our visas” by the US may not in the prevailing circumstances be drastic enough.

In the meantime, let us simply pray for her and ask God to protect her; but should she die, she will not die in vain; she will die a hero.

Janine is 100% Compton; but she’s also 100% woman. If the PM were as man as she is woman, then there’s every reason to believe that the imminent catastrophe which hangs over our heads could have been averted.

Imagine . . . Janine was commissioned by the PM to visit the US Embassy to gather intelligence and advice on how to deal with the rogue elements in his cabinet threatening to overthrow him. She returned with a repository of actionable intelligence/advice to the PM on how to deal with them; but he couldn’t muster the testicular fortitude to implement that advice or act on the actionable intelligence.

Now that the axe has fallen on one minister, our PM has the fibre to say he is totally ignorant of the circumstances surrounding the revocation of Frederick’s diplomatic visa; and that he is pursuing investigations into the action by the USA. Why should King investigate what he already knows?

When King became PM, he rushed to sign the Article 98 waiver that exempted the U.S. from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In other words, King signed an agreement which exempted US citizens from being tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide before the ICC. 

He perhaps did so in the hope that there would be a measure of reciprocity or a measure of accommodation from the US on the level of illegality that so profoundly characterizes his government; but the US is the greatest democracy on earth and King failed to realize that Uncle Sam’s laws are non-negotiable.  The irony now is one of our ministers may soon be on the US extradition list to face indictment for any one or more of the potentially atrocious crimes which the US abhors.

In the midst of the current crisis, King must also be careful of the signals that he sends out there. The message that he is going to investigate the decision of the US that revoked Frederick’s visas is naïve and ill-advised. Whereas, the US may advise a government on national security issues, Uncle Sam is not known for making any disclosures about its decisions or actions. He simply act decisively once they have the actionable intelligence; moreso, their actions are almost invariably irrevocable.

King must also be careful about the signals that his inner circle of ministers and party members send out there too. In that regard, the remarks by the AG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Richard’s supporters were also ill-advised and can only add insult to injury.

In a stage-managed UWP public demonstration of support for Richard (during which the Chairman of Richard’s Constituency group read from a prepared statement), the blame for Richard’s predicament was indiscriminately spat on Kenny Anthony, Ausbert d’Auvergne, Lady Janice, Janine Compton and Claudius Francis. The Foreign Minister (who is himself a persona non-grata in the USA) was equally diplomatically reckless in his pronouncement that there was nothing to be concerned about. The AG echoed the same position and went on further to state that there was no cause for alarm by the US action against the Minister; yet he said that he had absolutely no knowledge of the basis for the action by the US State Department. That too me represented the highest level of legal irrationality coming from the mouth a government’s chief legal advisor. The ministers were pussyfooting on a matter of the gravest concern to the St. Lucian public and the US State Department which involved allegations of “narco-trafficking” and links to murder, according to the FBI and CIA.  

FBI BUILDING

The next major dilemma for us might well be more visa revocations perhaps even extradition requests for the rogue elements within this government.

We all know the US role as world police, especially where the safety and security of their citizens may be under threat; and with tourism being the lifeblood of our economy, we better – unlike our government ministers - be gravely concerned because of the potentially devastating, long-term economic and geo-political implications.