Deputy Leader of the Dominica Freedom Party Michael Astaphan has expressed anger at the re-appointment of Ambrose George to government’s cabinet of ministers.
“This was a gentleman who was tired and tainted, as said by the Prime Minister in firing him from his cabinet, and is now a minister. That is a total disrespect to the people of Dominica,” Astaphan said in an exclusive interview with Dominica News Online.
George was sacked as deceased Prime Minister Pierre Charles’ finance minister in 2002 following allegations of impropriety, and then in 2008 he was dismissed by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit as his minister of Public Works and Infrastructural Development following allegations of his involvement in an internet scam. Skerrit had welcomed George into his cabinet after the demise of Charles.
In a cabinet reshuffle in November of 2008, Prime Minister Skerrit said he was making way for new talent and getting rid of those who were tainted.
In an interview earlier this month, George told DNO he is not bothered by his critics. He has responsibility for the ministry of Information, Telecommunication and Constituency Empowerment. George has expressed excitement over his new job.
“His total appointment to the cabinet is a total disregard and treatment of Dominica with utmost disdain that I’ve never seen,” Astaphan asserted.
I BELIEVE IN GIVING EVERYONE A SECOND CHANCE.
FIND ME SOMEONE APART FROM YOU WHO IS BLAMELESS AS YOU CARDINAL ASTAPHANS.
LEAVE TI-PA-PA ALONE WE LOVE HIM.
CONGRATES MR GEORGE.
what ever happened in the past happened. Mr.George helped my family when we needed help the most and if the people of newtown and environs did not want him to represent them they would not and i say not have voted him. FOR ONCE BACK OFF!!!!
I am with you on that one.
No good under UWP, no good when he crossed.
Mister must have something on the PM, for him to be back in favour.
Time Will Tell!!! Next!!!
tell mr astaphan leave mr george alone …he is pathetic
Because of MR. GEORGE sins, the first stones were pelted at him by his OWN LEADERS,
He was forced to go to court twice and found not guilty.
The blind Dominican congregation freed him up.
A bad dog will always continue to bite!!
all those that making those kind of comments i hope u all kind the pm and his cabinet pocket getting big and yours getting empty , making noise for party………they dont care about D/A .
hard working or not,once is a mistake, twice is a habit. Ambrose should not have been made a minister. I am a laborite but this one shocked me.
lets see how long he last, what has he done for the country or even new town? that should tell you how much integrity that goverment has.
Michael Astaphan
You must realise that Hon Ambrose George got almost three times more votes that the entire Freedom Party slate of eleven candidates. That is Hon George got much more votes than your entire party.
I would like to Know on whose behalf you speak. You only got 19 votes. The people of Dominica rejected you and your party at the poles. Therefore your anger is of no use.
The people of Dominica and Roseau south voted fro Hon George to be part of the Government. Your anger is of no consequence.
Jude Nicholas
Stock Farm
That’s the nature of politricks. This is why I support no personna or party in Dominica. I too, am very surprised by that appointment.
But you know, we cannot really blame our politicians, instead we have to search deep within ourselves. Decade after decade and even generation after generation we allow our political leaders to take us for rides and rather than holding them responsible, we instead jump up and make excuses for them, lie for them, and hate each other for them. And then we get mad when they throw ethics aside and do some amazingly unethical stuff.
I mean, the UWP-ites had a representative that resided and worked in foreign. How could I vote for a man that is not there daily in the trenches with me fighting the good fight? The Freedomites chose a guy to run for them whom Mamo had sacked for unethical behavior, he ran with another party speaking ills about the Freedom party and now you choosing him to run again? Amazing! The Laborites after putting the blame for the decimation of the Dominican economy squarely on the shoulders of Timothy, did an about turn and welcomed him in their party and gave him more ministry to run. Same thing with Ambrose George. How could this guy be sacked twice by two different Prime Ministers and then you presenting this guy to me and say vote for him?
These are the games that we allow our politicians to play with us and we accept it, and then we later turn around and bawl ‘curruption’, ‘bobol’, ‘crookedness’ etc.
Who is really to be blamed here? Our politicians who play us like a fiddle to gain and hold on to power, absolute power by any means necessary, or we who refuse to hold them accountable?
We need to stop looking through them blue, green, and red spectacles that we have on there, and instead look deep within ourselves.
I am not a fan of Mr Astaphan, or Any Assthaphan for tha reason. But, but he has a very valid point that Ambrose should not have been elected. Ambrose, under a just system would have been locked up.
I can’t recall Hon. Ambrose George being charged with any crime. I am wondering why is Hon. George a target and his reputation is being tarnished? it is obvious that his constituents know him best since for the past 15 years they have allowed him to represent them. Hon. George ha sthe character and integrity that persons like Mr. Astaphans lacks.
I am from the Roseau South constituency and this is is why I did not go to vote . I am a supporter of the Labour Party but I felt that a vote for this man meant that I supported him and his behaviour . I personally as a young constutient felt that someone better could have been identified and groomed to replace him by this election. I was not going to vote blindly. By voting for him I would therefore be saying that it is fine for him to decieve and cheat .The elder Dominicans need to teachtheir children to think and analyse for ourselves instead of following politicians blindly.
As for the person who said he is an example to people of Newtown I am left to wonder an example of what exactly ??? That it is all right to continously indulge in wrong doing and dishonesty and then be forgiven . How many chances does he need 99 times 99.
He is an embarassment and I feel that he should not be given any ministry.
only in beautiful dominica
Those of you who have found problems with my statement on Ambrose George’s appointment as a minister should put me third in line for your attacks. You must recall that I was not the one who fired him as a minister. Deseased PM Pierre Charles fired him ….include having our children studying in Cuba being arrested for receiving funny money. That was just one …You should contact Senior Council Tony Astaphan for the other breaches. Remember “HE KNEW!! HE KNEW!! HE KNEW!!
Next, and more importantly your current party leader and Prime Minister Roosvelt Skerrit found issue with him and omited him in his cabinet reshuffle because he was tainted, fatigued and stale. Not me MIchael Astaphan who said that. It was Prime Minister Skerrit. It is for this reason that I took issue with him being appointed as a minister in his Cabinet. What has Ambrose George done to to clense himself. His sins then ,were as red as crimson, and now they are as white as snow or are they???
The question should not be what skelitons Michael Astaphan has in his closet, but rather what skelitons does Prime Minister have in Ambros George’s closet.
Was it not Ambrose George who told he PM, …
If you are going to attack me with shallow statements you should throw away all the teaspoons in your home for fear you may drown yourselve in one of them.
Michael Astaphan
LOL at newtowner
i thought u all said u voted 4 skerrit and not ambrose.hahahahahahaha
Shut your’ll arhses. Has he ever been convicted of any such offences?
The people of Newtown know who represents their best interest. Certainly, Mr. Astaphans you and your party had the opportunity to sell your ideas or what to the people of Roseau South. Ambrose georeg is not the problem.If you want to refer to the people of Roseau South… go right ahead Mr. Astaphans.No more subtle attempts at using diplomatic language. You have failed badly in that regard. The people of Roseau South have spoken and like the rest of Dominica – the Roseau Valley included, the they have spoken very loudly. If yoy cannot settle down and treat your workers better – then your case against Ambrose George is as weak as you will never ever imagine.The people of Roseau South – that is what matters will be following you to your political grave. The people of the Roseau Valley began your political demise even before you started. onestly, you wish you were in Mr. George’s shoes – locally and nationally.
It is a shame to read the level of ignorance supported by any citizen( whether red, blue, green ).
There should be no room for dishonest public servants, especially at this level of cabinet. Talking about ” your time to shine”! How naive can you be?
As we ponder the the contributions of the late Prime Minister Pierre Charles, it is worth asking, ‘what would Pierre Charles say about the cabinet appointment of Ambrose George?’. Hmmm!
Is there really a need for a Minister of Constituency Empowerment ? Is there a governnance gap that has until now been neglected? Each constituency is represented by a Parliamentary Representative. The role of the Parliamentary Representative, among other things,is to bring the issues affecting his/her constituency to the attention of the caucus and the appropriate minister.
Perhaps the real issue is not whether Ambrose George should or should not be in the cabinet. A key question is what message does his appointment send to the Dominican electorate?
Ambrose this is your time to shine God gives us many opportunities do what you can with this one, Micheal you are a politician and you are expected to speak for the silent, but charlotteville spoke very loudly, by the wat where is Anuty Sonia…………………………….
Those who agreeing with Mr. A$$taphans, didn’t u’ll realise that the ppl of the Roseau South Constituency re-elected Mr.George with an increase Majority…? what is that saying to u, Mr. Astaphans, and the critics? Give Mr.George a break, i wonder if any of you havent made mistakes in ur life. Mr. Astaphans, he who is without sin, cast the first stone, maybe you should focus on treating ur employees better, and leave Mr.George alone.
Crooked as she goes!
Mr. Astaphan, when you said you were going to contest the general election Mr. George was not vex or mad at you, why now you are that angry with MR. George? I was going through all the tapes of the campaign meetings and I never heard one where Mr. George told the people do not vote for mssr Michael Astaphan. So please get a grip of yourself sir. He never send you to provr your own point that your five(($500.00) hundred dollars would have gone to the consolidated fund. You people who that are claimimng to be transparent are just a bunch of laughing stock. Many of us have had encounters with you all and when you all are assess, people like me just laugh and say” Just Listen to the hypocrites.”
We are not living on another palnet, we are all living in Dominica. If the Dominican electorate wanted some of you all, you all would have been in. Stop crying, cry cry baby ver an election and accept defeat.
Jokers are talking about bribe! Can anyone bribe people to do what they don t want to, especially when you enter the polling station to cast your vote? tell me. Oliver St. John buried the hatchet and said that he accepted defeat and now is time to move on. Why don t you all do that? The government wont be distracted by you all petty move, but will remain focus to do the work that they were elcected to do.
I am ashame of the so called intellectuals that continue going around talking crap…it’s like election campaign has just started.
If you all want attention as some of the other people on the LABOUR PARTY have been getting do the right things. The right things starts with making a difference in the life of others. Stop that nonsense. 61.4% spoke, which mean that you all can only speak for a few. If you all so that you are are so democratically incline, then you all must respect the majority and stop infringing on others, by spewing the hot air of hate, envy and greed all over the place.
Admit that the majority don t want you all to government.
When I look back at the campaign, UWP and their cohorts did so many things that were uncalled for that these things are not funny at all. That s why, they went further into the dungeon.
I do agree with this Astaphan guy. This type of action is unprecedented- “CRAPTATSTIC” . Dominicans (BLUE, RED or GREEN) should have rejected Ambrose when he was presented by the DLP as the candidate for the Roseau South district. What is interesting is that Ambrose is the Deputy Leader of the DLP and so one must.wonder what the heck is going on. Two years ago Ambrose was dismissed and according to Skerrit , it was for performance reasons. Suddenly he is the best man to head another ministry- hmmm.
It is unfortunate that the issue is intertwined with petty politics so the biases of DLP supporters automatically activates and the defensive shield comes up. If Dominicans would discard that partisanship and work for integrity in government then we will all agree that Ambrose should not be allowed in the cabinet or even government. Some may argue that he deserve a second chance- This is literally the third chance. Aren’t we opening up an avenue for politicians to play dirty games and hope that there will be second and third chances?
We have seen people defended Ambrose by asking for the evidence- How low can we go in the interest of partisanship? The man was dismissed twice from essentially the same cabinet and we are asking for evidence. I suggest that instead asking protestors for evidence why not ask the PM and or other members of cabinet for a sincere account of the dismissal action taken by Skerrit and Pierre Charles .
When it comes to politics very few of us are independent thinkers however our voices should be heard too. While I respect the elected government I reserve the right to ask – WHY IS MR AMBROSE A MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT?, IWAS THE PRIME MINISTER SKERRIT OR DESEASE PRIME MINISTER PIERRE CHARLES WRONG OR ACTED ON EMOTIONAL INSTINCTS.
How many did Michael Astaphan got???
I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM WITH YOUR SUPPORT OF MR GEORGE,BUT TO SAY A DOMINICAN SET UP MR. GEORGE IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH.MAYBE YOU SHOULD ASK MR. GEORGE WHAT WAS HE GOING IN THE PRESENCE OF …DID HE EVER FIND THE BANK ….GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS AND YOU CAN BELIEVE IT OR NOT BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS …..THIS IS THE NATURE OF THE MAN,HE JUST CANNOT HELP HIMSELF.
only in d/ca them nonsense can happen
Who cares what Michael Astaphan thinks? I hope he has no skeletons in his cupboard. He who has no sins, cast the first stone.
Ambrose George just there getting fed nicely…..i have a feeling mister tell skerrit, this is one ole timer you will not get rid off easily. Let them step on his toe and he will bawl. But honestly appointing this man is just ridiculous. I think God, is keeping all these ..guys on one train, so that when it derails, they will all perish and honesty will reign once more. Thats why julius timothy is there. …
I beg ur padon Mr. Astaphan but the problem is while us are angered by Mr george’s appointment as a minister in the new Cabinet you must remember that the people of Roseau South said in no uncertain terms that they wanted Mr. George to be involved in the new government. that’s why they voted overwhelmingly to have him back.
Up till today there has been no evidence to show Mr. George was guilty of any crime. If he was why was he not dragged before the court locally, regionally or internationally huh? He never was and therefore Mr. Astaphan he has no criminal record anywhere.
… people started with acccusations and the use of hacked information to set up Mr. George but in case you have not noticed the Lord works in mystical ways. Mr. George has and continues to work for his people and all what was done to tarnish his name did not stop us the people of Roseau South from voting him back to office.
Stop all this stupidness and accept defeat. Go lick ur wounds, Ambrose is here to stay! Like it or leave it all you out there who have accused him. He is a good man who comes from a humble and good family. He is an educated man and an example to the community of Newtown in particular he is a hard working man.