ROSEAU, Dominica – The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) said it had written to Police Commissioner Daniel Carbon seeking police protection for Opposition Leader Lennox Linton based “on credible threats” made against him and his family.
The party did not indicate where the threats were made, but in a statement posted on its official website, noted that they wanted the police to provide the protection for Linton “for the remainder of the campaign”.
“The letter was sent out today Tuesday. Leadership is awaiting the response from the commissioner. The leadership continues to admonish supporters to remain vigilant. We will keep you updated on these unfolding developments,” the party said.
But speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, UWP President, Isaac Baptiste, told reporters that the threat was made on Monday.
“I am hoping that in the interest of justice and fairness that the chief of police will accede to our request,” he added.
During the news conference Linton told reporters that the UWP is a “party of peace” and that he was the first political leader to sign the Code of Conduct presented by the Christian Council.
“We indicated there quite clearly that we are a party of peace, we advocate peace, we preach peace (and) it is part of our modus operandi”.
In a national radio and television broadcast on Monday night, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit accused the UWP and its leadership of fermenting violence in the run-up to the December 6 general elections after supporters burnt tyres and debris in the north east village of Marigot earlier during the day.
“I am calling on Lennox Linton,(former prime minister) Edison James and the UWP to bring an end to this lawlessness. I am calling on them to tell their supporters to stop. I am calling on Linton and the UWWP to put Dominica first,” Skerrit said, adding that the opposition has spoken of having “something to disrupt the elections”.
But Linton told reporters that the people of Marigot, who he represented in the last Parliament, “are standing up for issues of justice that need to be addressed.
“The justice issues for the people of Marigot are clear and need to be addressed before we start talking anything about peace,” he added. (CMC)
