Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has defended recent statements made by Attorney General Levi Peter last week where he referred to opposition presidential nominee, Anette Sanford as a “drumstick”.
After facing a week of criticism Attorney General Peter addressed the situation last week, claiming that his comments were taken out of context.
As previously reported, Sanford called upon the Minister of Gender Affairs and the Minister of Kalinago Affairs to condemn the attorney general’s words and advocate for his resignation. She made it clear that she and her supporters would not rest until Peter had stepped down, paving the way for a new attorney general who would respect the Constitution and the rights of women.
A number of groups and women’s rights advocates in Dominica also called for his resignation.
“I don’t think this statement has met the threshold for resignation of anyone who would have said this,” Prime Minister Skerrit said while addressing a press briefing on Tuesday. “I think everything has to be taken into context and I believe that the attorney general issued a statement and he placed his comment into context and he also went ahead and apologized.”
He continued, “And I believe that his statement was sincere and genuine and I think that it should be accepted by all who believe that his comment would have offended them and accept this, and let’s move on.”
According to Skerrit, one has to question the sincerity of some people putting their hands up in objection.
“We have seen many of my ministers, my own wife, so many things have been said about her publicly, deceased madam speaker, even the current president, many things were said leading up to the election of the president,” he remarked. “None of these organizations who claim to be representing women of all races, of all creeds, of all class and political affiliation said anything?”
He added, “If you are going to stand for women, you must stand for all women. If you are going to defend women you must defend all women and you must not be selective based on political affiliation or who said it.”
The prime minister argued that when women in Dominica were called prostitutes, “these organizations as if they were non-existent in Dominica.”
He further argued that the same people who have condemned the attorney general’s comments and say they represent women are yet to congratulate a woman president.
“She’s a woman and she is a person of Kalinago descent…,” he stated. “The attorney general has apologized and I think it is the opportune time for us to move on, but it is still not too late for these very same organizations to congratulate the president.”
ds, here is an observation: Roosevelt is the only person in the Caribbean where temperatures raises to more than 90 degrees, year round who has at least two fire place in his house; now we see him dressed in a zipped up over-coat; that is an indication the man is sick; and I believe I can diagnose him of suffering from Anemia! Your boy has poor blood flow, or decreased circulation in his arteries, and veins. There are other causes that can cause one to be chilly in the hands and feet, in Dominica temp.
One reason could be (PAD) peripheral artery disease, or Raynaud’s disease: when one is anemic; it’s because the body lacks sufficient healthy blood cells ‘hemoglobin’ to carry oxygen, heat, and nutrients throughout the body. If I diagnose Roosevelt correctly, his other symptoms should be shortness of breath, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, and exhaustion.
Doh worry about me ugly cousin Lenno he not warring winter coat and jacket in 90 + degrees heat in Dominica!
Hahahahahahah!
Clear sign of Satan himself perhaps?
What the AG issued was not an apology. Therefore, as a crisis communications expert, I’ll assist him with one. He has my permission to copy it verbatim and reissue it.
“When I referred to Ms. Sanford as a drumstick, I was wrong. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, I lost my cool, and what I said was unbecoming of the AG. My parents, my family and the country expect better from me, and my parents must now be in their graves. Contrary to the language I used, Ms. Sanford is a honest, hard-working and honorable person who has made, and continues to make a positive contribution to Dominica as a nurse and in public service in general. She deserves respect, not insults. I therefore unreservedly apologise to Ms. Sanford, and all women in Dominica.”
As for the prime minister’s defence of the AG, I think it’s time he recognises that he is the country’s leader and must be held to a higher standard. Lead by example, prime minister. Please
DNO: I hope for once, this time, you’ll publish my contribution.
Although I know of the people in this story, but I don’t know any of them. But I’d like to weigh in on the discussion. Let’s begin with the AG’s ‘clear the air’ statement. If I take him at his word that when he called Ms. Sanford a drumstick he meant it in jest, it means he has no sense of occasion. This was a rather serious occasion and you don’t choose to tell a tasteless joke on such an occasion. So he should be ashamed of himself. If he thinks people took him out of context, I’d like him to truthfully say how he, the DLP and its supporters would have reacted had someone from the opposition stood and said the parliament had just elected a drumstick for president. So I believe the AG meant to insult Ms. Sanford. And he went on further to insult everyone with his statement by suggesting that we did not understand context and the meaning of words. I’m truly ashamed. What the AG issued was not an apology.
“I’d like him to truthfully say how he, the DLP and its supporters would have reacted had someone from the opposition stood and said the parliament had just elected a drumstick for president…” Where have you been for the past 20 years? Daily, Skerrit and DLP supporters are insulted left, right, and center; on Q95, in social media, even on this blog. Yet, you do not hear this bellyaching and hypocrisy from Labourites. We either ignore or sue, mostly the former.
@Putin, are you suggesting that the rum shop is equal in importance and stature to parliament? You are lost in the gutter if you answer yes. Parliament calls for decorum that’s why the speaker will admonish when inappropriate things are said there. Whereas in the rum shop or on the internet we don’t have that many restrictions in the name of freedom of speech. Also consider the monumental occasions when the first woman and first Kalinago is being elevated to the highest position in Dominica. Your line of reasoning suggests that the rum shop behavior is acceptable everywhere. No it’s not.
what do u expect from this man…can remember him…when he said go to hell .. go to hell.. go to hell..he is as worthless as all those worthless minister who use to insult people on rhe platform…now Issac now seeing money in his big eyes not stopping those worthless words…just as worthless…but PM remember nothing last forever….all of us days are numbered so as your reign….I have lost all respect for this team in office…worthless lazy men ….remember the worthless words said in grand bay….people of no class….
“can remember him…when he said go to hell .. go to hell.. go to hell.” And he was very correct and within his rights to tell UWP supporters inquiring about where Labour gets its money that it is none of your business because there was no legal obligation to do so.
Prime Minister Skerrit, I seek your guidance. could you please educate me on what is the “threshold “, if any, for someone to resign from your government? I await your response.
Respectfully submitted.
You are damn right.If the President listen to a useless UWP and do things or say things she is not directed by the constitution or parliament to do she will not only quit.She will be fired by parliament.The President duties are spelt out in the constitution.The President in his functions as President is under the control of the constitution and parliament.
The Chief has spoken! And color me not surprised. In plain red parlance, let’s just sweep this under the rug and move on, Ok. And do we remember what the old adage says about upholders? Yes, the upholder is worse than the thief. Go figure!
“Skerrit,”I’m-the-people” leader, shame on you for trying to defend your hand picked AG when he pours egg all over the country at the moment when we should be euphoric at having the first woman and the first Kalinago as president of Dominica. I’m taking what Levi said in the context he said it. Levi went on to say that if he wasn’t in parliament he would have called Ms Sandford worst. The focus is only on what he actually called her, a drumstick, but there is the context in which he called her that. Levi said he was taken out of context but went on to create the context that if he wasn’t in parliament he would have taken her to the pit latrine. You and Levi think that you are the brightest bulbs around and the rest of us are so dumb we don’t understand English. Shame on Levi, Skerritt, the speaker of parliament for embarrassing the newly minted vintage president with an insult of her fellow Kalinago citizen and a woman like herself. This deserves an admonishing.
My initial reaction was to refrain from commenting on the statement made by some persons on DNO (DLP supporters) that a certain party leader had referred to Dominican women as prostitutes. The Prime Minister has now confirmed this statement to be true.
Where were the calls of condemnation by the now “holier than thou” individuals when those statements were made? HYPOCRITES. These folks don’t care about women’s issues.They are nothing but politicians attempting to exploit Mr Levi’s ill advised statement.
Get real. The opposition (UWP) used the unsuspecting, naive and possibly overly ambitious Mrs Sanford as a pawn to do their dirty work. Shame on them for using one of their own to further their own selfish agenda.
This is a new low. The young and aspiring Mrs Sanford should demand an immediate apology from those individuals who misused her and disassociate herself from that organization.
I would strongly recommend switching party affiliation at this time.
“I would strongly recommend switching party affiliation at this time.” No political party would take her seriously. Annette seemed to have potential when she came on the scene. Then, she opened her mouth in Parliament and removed all doubt: she confirmed that she has nothing to offer at the national level but more of the same koshonie the UWPwee was selling, which Dominicans had rejected over and over again. She therefore immediately showed herself as no different from that koshonie and lost much of her shine. Maybe she should try Kalinago Council Chief elections.; maybe she could be a good Chief. Not even Alex Bruno’s party would take her seriously today.
@Mark, sadly, you subscribe to the childish ‘they called us names, let’s call them names back’ philosophy. Skerrit is the prime minister, for heaven’s sake. He must be held to a higher standard, he has to lead by example. When are we going to this pathetic political pollution and act our ages? Come on, man.
And this is the best excuse you have for supporting the filth spewed by the UWPwee?
Anon B True, you view it as childish behavior but I see it differently. There is a double standard at play here. Wrong is wrong so let’s not call it only when someone knocks us below the belt but at all times. Then you can be taken seriously.
FYI, name calling is a sign of immaturity and I could NEVER subscribe to it.
@Mark, I’m glad that you don’t subscribe to name calling. I hope, therefore, that you’ll agree that the AG was wrong and that the PM, instead of defending the AG, should also have accepted that Mr. Peters should not have said what he said.
Like you, I dislike double standard, but who do you think should lead the effort to establish a more civil discourse? Wouldn’t you agree that the higher the position, the greater the responsibility?
Anon B True, I totally agree that we expect better behavior from those persons in more senior positions. This is the expectation but that does not always occur. Bear in mind they’re also human beings just like the rest of us who get frustrated at times.
People lose their cool from time to time and that’s why there’s something called an apology, an admittance of wrong doing and a plea for forgiveness.
This behavior becomes problematic only when the individual continues to behave in a manner that’s unbecoming of an office. There is a process for handling such cases.
By the way, I don’t believe Mr Skerrit defended Mr Levi’s statement like you and others believe. He said that the statement did not warrant his resignation but never claimed it to be appropriate. He also said that Mr Levi apologized and he felt the apology was sincere. This is in no way a defense of the statement.
I am not going to debate the sincerity of his apology. The fact remains he apologized.
Well we have to start somewhere, so we started with the comment made to Ms. Sanford. At least we’ve started. Started to take a stance against the disrespect that women are faced with in this country. We have to put our foot down at some point, and now our prime minister is preventing us from doing that because he’s justifying why a grown, capable, hardworking woman was called a ” drumstick” because she was nominated for our highest office. He’s saying it was taken out of context by SO MANY people 👀. You mean as an attorney general you’re unable to properly explain yourself. I think we picked up exactly what he meant. The comment wasn’t meant for me and I felt offended as a younger, skinnier than our average society person. THIS MAN SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Let’s start with him then we can get to the others that occasionally disrespect women in this country. Abuse is abuse. This was verbal abuse which was very much undeserved.
How could be next on the list? 1. The CM himself 2. Baby Sarah ‘father’ 3. That jungle warrior from up north who is not in politics anymore.
You, Starboy of stupidity, are a misogynistic twat. You as the leader of the country should denounce such utterances, publicly at least, but in your vainglory you feel emboldened to support such ignorance. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Not an iota of surprise to me. This is a scumbag who has referred to decent and very productive citizens as old buggies and stale soup. This is a sleazebag who has called peaceful walkers hungry. This is a mischief-maker who has instructed his sheep-like supporters to throw boiling water on members of the opposition.
If you cut this man, not blood, but evil will run out. If is as if this dude interacts with satanic forces. He has no soul. What manner of man will live off poor taxpayers’ money, in exquisite opulence, while many citizens go hungry and the homeless population balloons to unprecedented numbers?
His day of reckoning is fast approaching. Some bona fide, foreign investigators have the goods on him which is soon to be published.
Hahaha. I now convinced that you are just a jealous defeated individual. See how far you have fallen. Behavior very contradictory to words. I mad at you for calling my people derogatory names you scumbag. You sleaze bag. Alas. Poor allu boy.
You and boomerang Francisco have insulted the Prime Minister and his wife over and over and all they have done is to ignore you and your UWP bums. Your Leader Ugly Lennox Linton called Dominican women prostitutes. Ibo, go to hell with you. We going nowhere.
Skerrit, your rhetoric, political spin and continued lies are catching up with you slowly but surely. The continued electricity crisis and your failure with proper electoral reform will ultimately be your downfall. The clock is ticking…
Roosevelt your defense of Levi’s derogatory defamed assault on this young lady is as stupid as all your nonsensical statements you ever made.
Your vocabulary is limited, that’s why you spew such uneducated garbage!
Defending Levi that old thug, that street boy, mentally, it is just as you Roosevelt offending this lady.
All of you are the same out of gutter! A Leopard which is an animal if they try could not change their color.
Money, politics, scholastics, and bestowed titles cannot make a dog a man!
If my father is a corrupted crook, a reprobate so much that she refused to allow me to use his surname, what’s in the root is in the branches.
If Levi was from a discipline functional home rather than a dysfunctional miserable house he would have learned from home how to conduct himself, as a public servant l.
That scker should not be in public office he holds.
He is nothing more than a politician, protecting the crook when he should be prosecuting him, in matters involving…
Francisco, the PM did not defend Mr Levi’s statement. What he said was the statement did not meet the threshold for resignation/termination. Big difference. He went on to say that Mr Levi apologized and he felt the apology was sincere.
His mention of the apology in his statement meant he acknowledged that Mr Levi’s choice of adjectives was inappropriate but they did not meet the level for resignation.
Francisco, I have seen a lot worse name calling towards women including the PM’s wife and never any outrage. Why now. Simple. The opposition sees an opportunity to knock the administration on multiple fronts so they’re having a field day at it. It’s a whole lot more than what Mr Levi said and you probably know it.
A word to the wise. Do not hurl insults at your opponents and cry fowl when they boomerang to you.
Mark, I know sometimes I am bit crazy, and get out of control; usually I see things differently to most people. But considering even in college I was dubbed a “book worm,” that is an indication I sure knows how to read, and most likely understand what I read!
Here is the caption still as it was posted by DNO:
“Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has defended recent statements made by Attorney General Levi Peter last week where he referred to opposition presidential nominee, Anette Sanford as a “drumstick”.
Read the first line my friend!
Here it is written in plain English, it’s written in the English language, the key word is “defended.”
The definition of defended is ” to ward off attack or guard against assault or injury! So, whereas Roosevelt is not standing there with a gun guarding Levi, he is in full support of Levi defamed characteristics of Annet; and though I disagree with her emphasis of racism against her, I detest Levi characterization of her.
Francisco, I am fully aware of what the article said but what did Mr Skerrit actually say that leads you to believe he defended Mr Levi’s statement at the press conference?
Mr Skerrit was not there to defend Mr Levi. Mr Levi is a big boy and quite capable of defending himself so he doesn’t need Mr Skerrit or anyone else to defend him.
Mr Skerrit was there to address the growing calls for Mr Levi’s resignation so listen to what he actually said. “Mr Levi’s statement did not meet the threshold for resignation. He further went on to say that Mr Levi had apologized and he felt the apology was sincere”. He never said the statement was okay.
The mere idea that he mentioned the apology was acknowledgement on his part that whatever was said was inappropriate. People only apologize when something is not right.
Maybe you’re only focusing on the caption and not the text so we’re seeing and reading it deferently.
Mark, if by any chance you are fully aware of the article, if by any chance you are familiar with the English language from a grammatical point of view, if you are familiar with Cambridge English, how can you degrade your intelligence to even suggest that Roosevelt has not defended Levi?
So, let me suggest this, since you may not too familiar with common English; I invite you to look up the word “defendant” in any dictionary of your choice, and also look up the word “defended” and make the comparisons; then give me a feed back.
You might as well end it because, there is no other way around it Roosevelt is in defense of Levi!
I can tell now defendant means someone being defended by a lawyer in a court of law, defended as quoted on DNO is different.
You are actually defending Roosevelt and Levi at the same time, and these are the foolish support that makes Roosevelt and his puppets like Levi believe they can do as they in the country and getaway with the fart they spew!
Annette is definitely a drumstick. How about Dominican women being called prostitutes by Ugly Lennox Linton, your leader?
Let me tell you the difference, Peter and you are taking rubbish, Lennox however was talking the truth. Ask Skerrit, Austrie and Blackmoore to give you the number of their personal ‘fanclub’.
ds, what is a drum stick?
Give me the definition in terms of how you Roosevelt, and puppet, little boy Levi, and the promoter of porn in Dominica, one name some kind of Melisa, or her other married name the one she use to obtained a green card.
Even if Levi, meant what he called Annet in the fowling terms.
A drum stick, is something typically with a shaped or padded head, used for beating a drum.
People usually describe the lower joint of the leg of a cooked chicken, turkey, or other fowl, drum sticks!
In any event Levi is totally out of order; he is not only rude; he has shown his lack of intelligence.
Just because one sits in a position that caries a title, does mean that person is not an idiot!
Education and position does not make one a man. And that is why I personally do not honor anyone with the title’s Sr. Miser, or any other until I prove they deserve a handle to their name.
I address people by the name their parents gave to them, if they don’t like it: hang themselves…
but what happen, all you write that fake apology together man!
how you end up speaking about de AG apologized….. like you felt there was a need for an apology eh!
let me remind you that de AG is not a ministerial position……de man…Levi Peter is a public servant.
you have no role to play in that apology except you trying to use your influence to shove it!
perhaps a letter should be written directly to the head of the public service…… force dem to take action or to speak up on de issue.
de public service can deal de AG a good slap with their power of the constitution!
Skerrit will cry……but de head of de public service must act in their own cognizance with all their power that Skerrit has no influence over.
we need to put our pressure on de heads of de public service commission!!!!!
Look for it. My prediction is this. The president of the Communistwealth of Dominica will resign before her mid-term, or thereabouts. Not that I desire it. But that will certainly happen. She may see and hear things which will bother her conscience and she will quit. I have neither lot nor part in this inevitable situation.
A person of integrity would probably sit in the President house and loose sleep over things that bother their conscience. But with a fat pay check and benefits they will forget the meaning of integrity and they will continue to be handled like a fiddle.
Integrity or rather the lack of it has a dollar sign attached to it in Dominica. In my opinion it’s impossible to live in a society like that. See the youth of DA…
“See the youth of DA…” If you think things are bad for them now, they are wayyy better off today than they were in 1999.
Wishful thinking sir/ madam.
The president is no stranger to the issues surrounding the DLP Cabal. She served as PS before and ALLEGEDLY facilitated some of the crookedness. Now she is being paid in excess of three hundred thousand dollars tax free plus free rent, vehicle with driver, maid and housekeepers, entertainment account, well armed security, etc etc you believe there is anything that will make her walk away except WE the people? Come on man! Plus the PM has unfettered access and control of her in ALL respects.
The only thing / one that can remove the lady as President is the SOS by any means necessary. The other option is not renewing her contract after the first term by presenting and electing a new candidate for whatever reason he can manufacture. But rest assured no one but Skerrit or one of his stooge will replace her whenever he so choses. Not even Convince or fruitcake-lady were given a chance because of paranoia. She will not resign on her own….oh hell NO!