Former St. Lucia prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony plans to take legal action against a senior official of the ruling United Workers Party (UWP) over statements she allegedly made and posted on the social media which he regards as “false, scurrilous, malicious and defamatory.”
Facebook Statement
In a statement, Anthony, the parliamentary representative for the southern town of Vieux Fort, said he had taken note of the statement posted on Facebook and other social media by Kernisha Flavien, the UWP’s public relations officer.
Anthony, an attorney, said the statement by the UWP executive member claimed that he “continues to push a message of hatred, division and desperation all in an attempt to stop St. Lucia from rising out of the economic disaster that he and his government left.”
Anthony said that the statement also questioned his possible role in an attempt to burn down a hospital and equipment regarding a multi-billion-dollar project in the south of the island involving foreign investors.
“This statement appeared on the UWP (St. Lucia) website, the site of the Citizens for Accountability & Progress (CAP), the UWP affiliated group UnitedPac as well as a so- called UnitedPac Conservative Movement. It was also shared and posted in language highly injurious and condemnatory of me by several other individuals on the social media with known UWP connections. The statements have also been reproduced on some social media outlets.”
Anthony said that to add further insult to injury the UWP issued a press statement to the same effect.
False, scurrilous, malicious statements
“The meaning, innuendo and implications contained in the statements of Ms. Flavien and the United Workers Party are clear.
These statements are false, scurrilous, malicious and defamatory. In the circumstances, I want to make it absolutely clear to Ms. Flavien and the United Workers Party that I intend to take legal action to give them the opportunity to prove their allegations,” said Anthony, who served as prime minister between 1997-2006 and 2011-16.