BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – March 15th 2017 – The disrespect meted out to Sir Edmund Lawrence by Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris and Attorney General Vincent Byron moments before he was unceremoniously informed that he was removed as Governor General, is in the public domain.
In response to a question from a reporter on the victimisation of scores of civil servants, mostly young women by his two-year old Team Unity Government, Dr. Harris at his recent press conference gave the impression that his hands are clean as it was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who was solely responsible for Sir Edmund’s removal as Head of State.
“I heard them say that Sir Edmund for example was victimised. Sir Edmund has lived a long life, being in so many places. It was Her Majesty the Queen who ended the tenure of Sir Edmund. The Prime Minister can make a recommendation but the Queen, poor me in Basseterre, can’t control London. So it has to be that some objective test had been preserved and Her Majesty found favour with the recommendation to, as it were, bring an end to that service,” Prime Minister Harris told reporters and the Nation.
But during the Wednesday Issues programme on Freedom 106.5 FM and Kyss 102.5 FM, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 2 (Central Basseterre), Hon. Marcella Liburd informed listeners that Dr. Harris aware that Queen Elizabeth had accepted Sir Edmund’s request to retirement from 31st May 2015, wrote to Buckingham Palace recommending that Sir Ed be removed from May 14th 2015.
She told listeners that PM Harris and AG Byron went to Government House to see sir Ed on May 18th 2015.
“On the eve of the CDB Board of Governors Meeting, when a cocktail party was scheduled that night, Harris and Byron went to Government House. They knew that Sir Edmund was hosting the cocktail, but they went around 5 ‘o’ clock. Timothy Harris removed a letter from a folder that he had in his hand, read out its contents to Governor General Sir Ed that the Queen had appointed Tapley Seaton as the Acting Governor General. This is in breach of Section 22 of the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution, which states an Acting Governor General cannot be appointed unless there is a vacancy.
There was no vacancy. Sir Ed was right there, but here was the Prime Minister saying that the Queen has appointed Tapley Seaton as the acting Governor General,” said Ms. Liburd, who further disclosed that as the discussion continued, invited guests began to arrive for the cocktail party.
She said although Harris and Byron had already informed Governor General Sir Ed of his dismissal, “they had the gall to tell him to go down and meet and greet the guests who were already arriving for the cocktail party.
“Harris and Byron are heartless people. Of course Sir Ed refused,” said Ms. Liburd, adding: “it got worse.”
“The Police Inspector, who normally drives Sir Ed, came to him and told him that he received a call from Force Headquarters instructing him that he is not to take Sir Ed home. Sir Ed who lived in his private residence at Bird Rock, requested the police inspector to show him the order. Of course the police inspector could not show any order, and so he took Sir Ed home. By the time Sir Ed arrived home, the other security personnel assigned to his residence was already removed,” said Ms. Liburd.
“Maybe all of this was done by the Queen. Maybe it was the Queen who instructed the police not to drive Sir Ed home and it was also the Queen who removed the security,” she told listeners in jest.
But the Central Basseterre MP said all this took place on May 18th 2015 when Prime Minister Harris knew that Sir Ed had written to Queen Elizabeth II since March 2015 and had received a letter from Buckingham Palace accepting his retirement as Governor General with effect from 31st May 2015.
Liburd disclosed that Buckingham Palace was informed of the new development on the night of May 18th.
“She (Queen Elizabeth) accepted the fact that she had agreed to the May 31st 2015 retirement date, but that she had subsequently received a formal submission from Prime Minister Harris saying that Sir Ed must leave office effective the 14th May 2015. It is not only that Harris and Byron went to Government House on the 18th May 2015, but since the 14th they wanted Sir Ed to demit office retroactively,” said Ms. Liburd, pointing out further that the Queen acts on the recommendation of the Prime Minster, who in this case is Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris.
“How can Dr. Harris look into the eyes of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis and say to them that it is Queen Elizabeth II who fired Sir Ed? Prime Minister Harris is full of lies. He is deceptive and he is grossly disingenuous.”
Ms. Liburd’s revelation in outlining the sequence of events was quickly applauded by listeners to the popular programme with a female caller pointing out that Sir Ed’s successor was part of the deception.
“He (Sir Tapley” needs to be placed in the mix of the deception and the despicable behaviour in the way they treated Mr. Lawrence,” said the caller who went on to state that Mr. Seaton had the option to say to Prime Minister Harris that it was wrong and he will not be a part of it and will wait until it is time for Mr. Lawrence to demit office in a decent manner since he has already resigned.
“But the great lawyer that he is, and I am certain he knows what the Constitution says; he went ahead, accepted and agreed with the action of Harris and Byron. He needs to be thrown into the indecent and despicable action that took place regarding Mr. Lawrence,” said the caller who indicated she and most other persons were not aware of the timelines involved.
“We need to do more to put the true information out there to the public so that people understand what really went down,”
Photo 1 – Hon. Marcella Liburd
Photo 2 = Queen Elizabeth II
Photo 3 – Sir Edmund Lawrence being knighted by Britain’s Prince Harry
Photo 4 – Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris
Photo 5 – Attorney General Mr. Vincent Byron
Jr.
Photo 6 – Governor General Sir Tapley Seaton
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