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The Interim Executive of the National Joint Action Movement (NJAM), vehemently condemns the vicious, malicious and vulgar attacks on the character, reputation, profession and personality of Dominican Attorney Ms. Cara Shillingford by Reginald Austrie, the longest serving parliamentarian, who has served in that capacity for more than 27 years, and is now a senior minister in the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, having served as a minister for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n
Attorney Cara Shillingford as a young woman has exemplified herself as one of the Caribbean\u2019s most promising lawyers, and her recent victory at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) while representing Dominicans in their pursuit of justice, should be commended by all Dominicans. The Government of Dominica as a representative of ALL Dominicans, and as the entity responsible for providing opportunities for our people to educate and elevate themselves, along with an environment within which they can excel and represent the nation at its best, should be the first to congratulate Ms. Shillingford on such a victory at the level of the final Court of Appeal, the CCJ.<\/p>\n
But alas, due to the position in which they have found themselves, with the actions of many ministers and government parliamentarians being the subject matter under scrutiny in this case, they are yet again unwilling (and unable) to act in the public interest, but instead act in their own self interests.<\/p>\n
Reginald Austrie has a history of insulting women in the most degrading and vulgar manner and in his recent attack on Cara Shillingford, has once again crossed the line. Being accused of treating and having the matter upheld by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), is admittedly the most serious challenge the Dominica Labour Party parliamentarians have faced in the last twenty years. As a consequence, Reginald Austrie et al are desperately worried about the outcome of the case. This however can never justify the attacks on Ms. Cara Shillingford, one of few Dominican lawyers with the willingness, courage and ability to stand and successfully challenge this regime.
\nNJAM calls on, particularly women\u2019s organizations alongside civil society groups, inclusive of the Dominica and OECS Bar Associations, to wholly condemn Reginald Austrie for his unprovoked attacks on Attorney Cara Shillingford, and to demand that he issues a public apology for his actions.<\/p>\n
NJAM is also appealing to the Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to take the necessary action to discipline his unruly and blatantly vulgar cabinet ministers, who seem to think it acceptable to insult Dominican citizens with impunity.<\/p>\n
This latest episode of Reginald Austrie comes in the wake of unsavory statements made by Education Minister Octavia Alfred where she encouraged students to \u201cshake their pampalam\u201d in order to somehow secure continuation of their tertiary education. Such a statement from none other than the minister responsible for the education of our children, one easily interpreted to mean \u2018prostitute yourselves\u2019 in the context in which it was used, is TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE and when challenged, she had the audacity to lay blame on someone else for
\nteaching her the word, acting as a spoilt child would when caught in an indecent act, attempting to wiggle their way out by blaming others.<\/p>\n
NJAM extends its support, commendations and appreciation to attorney Cara Shillingford for demonstrating to the Dominican youth and citizenry that there is hope for a better Dominica amidst the decadent behavior of elected public representatives. Let your determination and success in bringing justice to the people of Dominica be a guiding light. Stay strong!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Interim Executive of the National Joint Action Movement (NJAM), vehemently condemns the vicious, malicious and vulgar attacks on the character, reputation, profession and personality of Dominican Attorney Ms. Cara Shillingford by Reginald Austrie, the longest serving parliamentarian, who has…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":259807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[77,235,9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news","category-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n