Dr Lewis adamant he was asked to donate salary

Dr Linton Lewis stands by the statement he made on BOOM Fm’s “OMG In The Morning” program on Tuesday that he was asked by party president Arnhim Eustace to donate his parliamentary salary to the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Lewis, Chairman of the NDP, spoke to SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, one day after the NDP issued a statement slamming Boom FM for saying Lewis had to give up his{{more}} senator’s salary as a pre-condition to his appointment as a senator by Eustace.

“Resulting claims and comments by OMG host Mr Dwight “Bing” Joseph to the effect that Mr Eustace ‘sold’ the senatorship to Dr Lewis have not only been mischievous, but outright defamatory of Mr Eustace, and also speak to the inability of some media houses and practitioners to do due diligence and research.

“While it is the constitutional right of the broadcaster to use his station to advance his political agenda, he and the station enjoy a limited right. They have no entitlement under law or morality to lie and thereby to defame those perceived as thwarting that agenda.

“On the pertinent issue of the assignment of salary, either Dr Lewis misspoke, was not clear enough in his statement, or his comments were deliberately twisted.”

During the program on Boom Fm last Tuesday, Lewis said he was asked to give his salary to the party by Eustace, “presumably”, because there may have been an understanding that “others needed it more” than he did. He said he acceded to the request, but he found the situation problematic.

“…as a human being, you will feel that there is a condition, that you are there conditionally. From that perspective, I find it problematic.” He however said he did not challenge it as all his life, he is one who believes “in a collective spirit.”

Lewis was appointed an opposition senator by the NDP in May 2012 and remained in the House until November 2015 when Parliament was prorogued prior to the December 2015 general elections.

He told SEARCHLIGHT yesterday that when he was offered the appointment, he never offered or suggested that his salary be used to pay the teachers — Kenroy Johnson, Elvis Daniel and Addison “Bash” Thomas — who had run unsuccessfully on an NDP ticket in the 2010 general elections, but had not been rehired by the government.

The NDP in its release issued yesterday however said that “the NDP hired Thomas as its research officer. Eventually Mr Daniel gained comparable employment. However, Mr Johnson, a highly qualified and distinguished teacher, remained unemployed.

“As a result, Dr Lewis magnanimously offered to assign his entire Senator’s salary to Mr Johnson and Mr Daniel who had not yet found suitable employment. The matter was discussed with Messrs Daniel and Johnson who accepted Dr Lewis’ offer. Thus the full parliamentary salary was initially assigned to Messrs Daniel and Johnson in its entirety. It was arranged that when Mr Daniel gained employment, Dr Lewis’ full parliamentary salary went to Mr Johnson solely. None of this was a pre-condition of Dr Lewis’ appointment; there was no sale by Mr Eustace or anyone in the NDP of a senatorship; no such pressure was brought to bear on Dr Lewis who is himself a lawyer and academic; and there has been neither discussion of assignment nor actual assignment of salary by Dr Lewis’ predecessor or successor in Parliament.”

Lewis however told SEARCHLIGHT yesterday that after the 2005 elections, on the advice of someone he respected highly, he called the NDP president and offered to serve as a senator and said he would donate his salary to the Party. He said he was reluctant to do this because of pride, however after being persuaded by his friend he did so. Lewis claims Eustace promised to get back to him about his offer, but never did. He said he never raised the matter with Eustace after that.

Cummings was appointed as the Party’s new senator in Parliament in January 2006 and after the 2010 elections, Vynnette Frederick and Anesia Baptiste were appointed in January 2011. Lewis’ appointment came in May 2012 after Baptiste was fired by Eustace.

Lewis, who is the Chairman of the NDP, said when he was appointed in 2012, he never suggested that he donate his salary to the Party; he was asked to do so and obliged. He said he did not know what the money was being used for until months after, when he was “late in paying it to the party and was told that Johnson was enquiring about the salary.”

The NDP statement said “the treatment of this issue by BOOM FM and Mr Bing Joseph is ribald and malicious and does a disservice to the facts, and to the men and women who honourably serve the New Democratic Party – and by extension the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines. It will not be tolerated.”

When he went on air on Boom FM yesterday, Joseph apologized to Eustace saying: “I am pleased to be made aware of the facts as was put out in that release by the NDP yesterday concerning the surrender of salary as senator by Dr Lewis which was not explained by Dr Lewis to me in that interview. I apologize again to Mr Eustace for any inconvenience that may have been caused by me in the statements of sale of senatorship.”

Joseph said that Eustace and the NDP did not ask for an apology but he decided to make one after receiving the release because he felt it was the most appropriate thing to do.