DPSU President Steve Joseph and UWP leader Lennox Linton have questioned the sincerity of Foreign Affairs Minister Kenneth Darroux in claiming ignorance over the botched Dominica-Syria pact.
Dominica’s permanent representative to the UN, Loreen Bannis-Roberts, had on March 7 signed a bilateral economic agreement with Syria on behalf of the government. Given the public outcry that followed the signing of the pact, PM Roosevelt Skerrit said the DLP administration did not initiate the agreement and summoned Bannis-Roberts to a stakeholders meeting.
Skerrit announced that Bannis-Roberts acted on her own without the prior knowledge of his government. He said Dominica has no interest in forming any leagues with the Arab nation of Syria given the prolonged civil war and human rights abuses the country is charged with. The national leader called for an indefinite suspension of any signed agreement with Syria and recalled Bannis-Roberts back to Dominica.
Skerrit said Bannis-Roberts handed in her resignation at the meeting, and that the exiting permanent representative would commence on administrative leave until her resignation commences on March 31.
But DPSU leadership saidit is not possible that Darroux would be completely ignorant of the agreement prior to Bannis-Roberts signing it.
“Some of our leaders in the region and our Minister of Foreign Affairs didn’t tell you why we are seeking to be friends of satellites of…but maybe the Minister of Foreign Affairs will come out and explain to the nation the premise and the benefits to be derived from forging that bilateral relationship with Syria,” Joseph stated. “It’s making its round in the news, but even in democracy, we have the rights to ask questions and to get answers from the government and from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
Opposition leader Linton expressed the same sentiments and called for the minister of foreign affairs to be probed; he also went further to ask Skerrit to apologize to Dominicans and to also resign over the issue.
“The evidence is also clear that the Minister of Foreign Affairs lied to the prime minister in his representations on the Syria diplomatic issue,” Linton said. “And the prime minister knew, he knew that the minister lied; because they have surrendered control of the foreign policy of Dominica to outsiders, and are involved in a cover-up to cheat and decieve the people of Dominica.
“And if he’s not lying, then his management responsibility for Dominica’s foreign policy has been fatally undermined by a subordinate, and resignation is the only honourable course of action available to him.”
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