Published 23 May 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
By: Media Source
Opposition Leader Dr. Douglas Says Defiant Prime Minister Harris Must Fully Disclose His Involvement With Peter Virdee
Opposition Leader Rt. Hon. Dr Denzil Douglas used the announcement of his return to the programme, Ask The Leader on Kyss FM, to repeat his call for Prime Minister, Dr Timothy Harris to fully disclose his involvement with Peter Virdee.
This comes on the heels of Prime Minister Harris’ 20th May town hall meeting in Tabernacle.
In revealing that his programme ‘Ask The Leader’ will resume weekly on Kyss FM at 6:30 pm on Tuesdays, Dr Douglas repeated the position that nothing less than a full explanation from Dr Harris and his resignation will be acceptable.
The Prime Minister’s disclosure becomes all the more important as new information suggests that the embattled investment tycoon, Peter Virdee, may be the holder of a St. Kitts and Nevis diplomatic passport.
With the scandal becoming more complex daily, Dr Douglas says it is more critical than ever for Dr Harris to do the right thing in the interest of the nation, which is to be forthcoming with the truth and step aside.
“We condemn Prime Minister Harris for coming to the public in an open forum with hostility and hurling insults and abuse to some of his own cabinet colleagues, parliamentarians and several founding members of his PLP, architects of Team Unity and fair-minded citizens who are simply interested in a decent name and image of our country and accountability, transparency, openness and integrity for those who serve publicly here in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Dr Douglas continued, “We submit again today that Prime Minister Harris has not answered the questions specifically posed to him and he has not given full disclosure to his connection and relationship with billionaire investor and developer Peter Virdee, who together with his business partner, Prime Minister Harris and an Antiguan Minister are all the subjects of an ongoing major London bribery scandal and trial. We, therefore, submit again that the stage is now set for QC Wilkins, the press and for civil society to join with the citizens of our country to call on Prime Minister Harris to do the right thing and resign. We ask his cabinet colleagues to assist in this regard by their collective action.”
While Prime Minister, Dr Timothy Harris has still failed to address the nation on the allegations of bribery made by billionaire Peter Virdee, he proclaimed his innocence at a town hall meeting on Sunday 20th May.
Accordingly, in phone calls intercepted by German Police, Peter Virdee, while speaking to his business partner, Dieter Trutschler, said that Prime Minister Harris had asked him for a watch. Virdee told Trutschler that he was not prepared to spend more than £2000 on the watch at Selfridge’s as he had no guarantee that negotiations would be fruitful.
Throughout his hour-long presentation, the parliamentary representative for constituency number seven, failed to acknowledge that the allegations made, and the resulting scandal, which stems from a May 11th 2018 United Kingdom High Court judgement stemming from a tax fraud investigation into Hardip Singh aka Peter Virdee.
He also failed to disclose the extent of his connection and interactions with Peter Virdee and his company, PV Energy Ltd., which spearheaded a major solar energy project in Antigua and Barbuda and which is believed to have express similar investment interests in St. Kitts and Nevis.
To the contrary, there have already been major regional casualties as a result of what began as a tax fraud case but has now become a major international bribery and corruption scandal.
Antigua and Barbuda’s minister of Investment and Trade, Asot Michael, who was also named in the taped calls, announced four days after the judgement handed down by Lord justice Holroyde and Justice Dingemans, that he would resign effective 17th May 2018 in order to avoid tarnishing the reputation of the government of his country and the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party.
Calls for Prime Minister Harris to come clean have also come from former Minister of National Security, Dwyer Astaphan, Queen’s Counsel, Charles Wilkin and former People’s Labour Party Chairman and founding member, Douglas Wattley.
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