![\"\"](\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/commentary2.jpg\" "\\"commentary\\"")
I refer here to your recent story dubbed \u201cSenior Counsel goes after Edison James\u201d which was subsequent to Mr. James calling on government to seek the help of Scotland Yard in an independent investigation into the dreadful firebombing of the home of Glenworth O.N Emmanuel. It was further suggested by Mr. James that Mr. Astaphan should be questioned since he admitted on live radio that he had seen and spoken to persons in the vicinity of the fire shortly after the act took place.<\/p>\n
The question lingering on my mind is, why would these comments anger the Senior Counsel to that extent? It was him, not Edison James who made those comments on air. It was also him, not Edison James who said in a press conference shortly after the firebombing that he and his client are willing to cooperate with the investigations and are available to take questions anytime, anywhere.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if Scotland Yard were to conduct an investigation, isn\u2019t it obvious that there would be a great need to question Mr. Astaphan based on his own admissions? These are simple, basic questions that any right thinking Dominican should ask themselves irrespective of which party they support. Clearly, Mr. Astaphan has not addressed the issue at hand, but instead went into \u201cRoseau-Market Mode\u201d with his usual impulsive and uncontrollable outbursts that we usually hear on the \u201cNext Level\u201d program on Kairi FM.<\/p>\n
I will now go further to dissect some of the amazingly hypocritical statements made by this man in an attempt at getting the readers on DNO to think critically.<\/p>\n
Moral Authority \u2013 According to Mr. Astaphan, the call by Mr. James should be ignored because he does not have the moral authority to speak on any issue. If my memory serves me right, there isn\u2019t anything that Mr. James has either informed or warned Dominicans about that did not come to pass. The actions, in-actions, reactions and activities on this administration over the past few years continue to vindicate Mr. Edison James.<\/p>\n
I do not have to go into detail, the stubborn facts are well known. Moreover, Mr. James has remained in Marigot since January 31st, 2000 awaiting his summons to answer to the corruption charges which according to Mr. Astaphan, were to be presented in detail within 6 weeks after the 2000 General Elections. Approximately 620 weeks have passed and the world awaits this report promised by Mr. Astaphan who assured the voting population in 2000, that he had irrefutable evidence of corruption within the UWP administration during their 1995-1999 term in office. While the world continues await Mr. Astphan\u2019s report, we have seen the appointment of Honorable Julius Timothy as a minister in the cabinet of the Dominica Labour Party, a man whose name was in the front and centre of allegations leveled against the United Workers Party. Nonetheless, the world patiently awaits that report.<\/p>\n
Leadership of the UWP \u2013 According to Mr. Astaphan, one of the best things that could happen to the Dominica Labour Party now is that James would be elected Political Leader of the UWP. What a laughable and clever attempt at reverse psychology on the part of the Senior Counsel. Mr. Astaphan knows fully well that this is not what the DLP wants at this point in time. Believe it or not, Mr. Edison Chenfil James is feared by the Labour Party camp. They love the idea of Hector John being Opposition Leader in Parliament so that they can continue to ridicule his short-comings while they continue to glorify their \u201cGod\u201d, Roosevelt M. Skerrit. These men continue to hit on Mr. James who stepped down from both party and parliament leadership after the 2005 General Elections, simple because they desperately need to discredit their most feared political opponent in the most dishonest and manipulative manner possible. Mark my words, if Mr. James is ever returned to the helm of the UWP, the \u201cNext Level\u201d program will run all week long ; in the morning, noon and night. The political climate in Dominica is slowly changing once again and we may live to witness a lot of interesting things.<\/p>\n
Attempt at Corruption \u2013 Mr. Editor, did I read right? Was this really Anthony Astaphan speaking? So we have moved from irrefutable evidence of corruption in public office by the UWP, to the charge in the book of the Senior Counsel now being reduced to an \u201cattempt\u201d at corruption? I cannot help but wonder what goes through the minds of the thousands of innocent Dominicans who went out, rallying with these men in their mission to \u201ckeep the corrupt UWP out of office\u201d. The appointment of Julius Timothy should have given them a lot to think about, and now this new twist from Mr. Astaphan to me is the icing on the cake. The motto of the 2000 General Election was \u201cIgnore Performance, Vote out Corruption\u201d. We are now learning that Dominica had a good government and was manipulated into voting them out on false allegations. Unfortunately, a few members and supporters of the Dominica Labour Party still have repeated and will continue to have the unmitigated full to repeat these baseless and unfounded allegations in their political arguments.<\/p>\n
Dominica\u2019s Bankruptcy in 2002 \u2013 This last statement by this Senior Counsel has led me to believe that there may be a great need for him to seek psychiatric evaluation. The United Workers Party was in office from 1995-1999. The Dominica Labour Party took over in January of 2000. After almost 3 years of governance by the DLP, the UWP was and is still being blamed by Mr. Astaphan for country\u2019s then \u201cbankruptcy\u201d. Moreover, the former UWP minister who was accused of performing \u201cvoodoo economics\u201d in Dominica was appointed by the DLP in 2007 to the ministry of ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT and Urban Renewal. Yet still, Mr. Astaphan is relentlessly repeating statements which I am 100% sure his colleague and comrade in Labour totally disagrees with. I sometimes wonder how Mr. Timothy feels, having to seat and listen to Mr. Astaphan.<\/p>\n
In closing, as we continue to pray for the innocent juvenile supporters of this administration, I truly hope that for the sake of the future of this country that enough grown people open up their eyes to the harsh realities!<\/p>\n
Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Dominica News Online.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I refer here to your recent story dubbed \u201cSenior Counsel goes after Edison James\u201d which was subsequent to Mr. James calling on government to seek the help of Scotland Yard in an independent investigation into the dreadful firebombing of the…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n