Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre
St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre says he will make absolutely “no statements on the Richard Frederick issue” following calls and protest from members of the United Workers Party {UWP} among others.
Housing, Local Government and Urban Renewal Minister Richard Frederick is the subject of a police probe into allegations of misconduct on the heels of numerous unverified photographs floating on various social media platforms.
The prime minister was clear that his resistance to calls for comments or action on the issue was specifically because the police were actively involved in an ongoing investigation and that he was mindful that any comments could circumvent the investigative process.
The minister, whose cabinet portfolio has been split between two cabinet colleagues, “has been asked to be on leave” until August 27th, 2026.
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There is no indication when the police investigation will conclude and the prime minister was repetitive in his position that no comments or action will be taken until then.
Frederick, for his part, also insisted that he will make no statements on the issue when he spoke on his televised talk show days before proceeding on leave, except to suggest that he was falsely accused.
Prime Minister Pierre, who appeared sufficiently animated at the weekly government press briefing Monday, took time to address accusations that he was hiding from hard questions and hard decisions. Without naming any particular accuser, he delved into his political history in an effort to discredit the argument. He sited unpopular decisions including naming the Entrepot Human Resource facility after his former political rival Romanus Lansiquot and more recently recommended Sir. John Compton to be placed on the hundred-dollar bill. Pierre was clear, while seemingly taking a dig at the current opposition, that “the bitterness and the lies and the slander that happens in St. Lucia politics now, did not happen during Sir. John’s time” as far as he was concerned.
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The Richard Frederick saga continues as at least one UWP member, Sarah Flood Beaubrun, was photographed Monday in front of the government buildings on the Castries Waterfront in protest.
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