BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – JUST as the Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is adamant that he would not be apologising for his behaviour during the last sitting of Parliament, his fellow Parliamentarian, the Hon. Shawn K. Richards is similarly resolute on getting one.
The Federal Parliament last sat in February 2012 during which Richards raised a concern that chalk – a teaching tool – which was said to be non-VAT-able, is actually VAT-able.
Richards was harshly castigated by the Prime Minister and even repeatedly called a liar. However, having received information which proved Richards’ statements true, Dr. Douglas retracted his statements, an exercise which Richards did not see as he was – at that time – absent from Parliament.
More recently, Dr. Douglas suggested that the retraction was enough and even thanked Richards for promoting discussion of the issue, but noted that an apology would not be forthcoming.
This publication spoke with Richards who explained that Dr. Douglas’ refusal to apologise is not surprising to him, as it is in keeping with his modus operandi.
“That is very much in tune with the behaviour of Dr. Douglas. He doesn’t accept responsibility for anything in this country and he doesn’t accept responsibility for his actions. His mode of behaviour has always been to blame others.”
Richards opined that Dr. Douglas might be confused about the difference between an apology and an explanation or a retraction of comments.
“Additionally, for him to use the excuse that he explained to the Parliament the mistake that he made is insufficient. Explaining the error is not an apology. That is something totally different. Furthermore, perhaps what he ought to have done was to find out whether or not my statements were correct rather than referring to me as a liar. I wasn’t in Parliament when he offered his explanation because I had a next engagement that I attended that afternoon. But that does not absolve him from offering an apology, which is the correct, moral and ethical thing to do.”
The Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Five said he would be asking for an apology of Dr. Douglas during Parliament’s next sitting. He explained that the apology is not just for him, but for those who were possibly affected by the Prime Minister’s expressions.
“It is still my intention to call upon Dr. Douglas to offer an apology. As I have said before, this apology is not just for me, but also for the entire nation who has listened to Douglas repeatedly referring to me as a liar. And he said to the nation that there is no VAT on chalk. Dr. Douglas ought to be a big man and stand up in Parliament and offer an apology even without being prompted. His language that was used in Parliament was also ‘unparliamentary’.
“I want an apology not just to me but to the teacher in particular, because he said that no teacher could have told me that when the facts would show that teachers who were purchasing chalk were paying VAT on it.”
