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Dear Sir:

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas never clarified the objectives of his self-styled “Address to the Nation” of August 28, 2012. But long before he had laid aside his script he had already showed himself an incompetent, divisive, insensitive, vengeful desperado who had come unstuck – to those who were still in doubt.

Speculation as to why the Prime Minister Thomas has never shown any reasonable competence at the post is varied. Some cited the division in his party and government as the factors to be blamed. Others contended that he was the main generator of the division: His inflexible nature; his inability to connect; to feel with or for others; to empathize; to be fair, especially in dealing with his ministers, his unforgiving spirit; his tendency to blame others for his wrongdoing; to hold grudges; to resent those who disagree with him; to make himself inaccessible to them. Others point to his loud claim to high moral standards compared with what he does!

It is clear that he has heard of something called parliamentary values such as accountability, transparency, representativeness. Parrot-like he repeats them, so we could mistake Tillman Thomas for Nelson Mandela. Then he could cuss those who disagree with him as “evil”; curse at journalists as “dangerous to Grenada”, use the Office of Prime Minister to separate them from their jobs for refusing to lie about the division in his cabinet – not smart enough to know that we are taking notice. Sorry, sir, prime minister, was it Dr Mitchell and the NNP who attacked the Office of the Governor General? – You’re much too holy for that!

Many of these tendencies showed up during that unseemly, unfair, hateful attack on the NNP and its leadership – and we guess then that this was no Nelson Mandela speaking!

Together the verbal – and written -- outpourings of his soul explains what we have in the Office of the Prime Minister what Shakespeare called “a dwarf in giant’s suit!” One simple aspect explains why.

He may like the trappings of office, but – psychologically -- Mr Thomas has never accepted the job. In fact, the first duty of a prime minister is to hold his government together; the second to put them to work!

Instead, the prime minister has intensified the conflict, division and confusion that has destroyed his cabinet and government. Moreover, he led the way in protesting that his government could do NOTHING – a) because – “The NNP, the NNP” government and b) the recession!

In a word, Prime Minister Thomas paralyzed, immobilized and doomed his government to failure and many of our people into unemployment and poverty -- from the start!

But back to what Mr Thomas’ labeled an address to the nation: whatever his purpose from his “Good evening, the NNP, the NNP” for a total of 21 times altogether, in a fit of palpable hate and malice, he cursed at -- the NNP; its leader; Her Majesty’s opposition and incidentally our constitution. So violent was his eruption!

Mr Tillman’s address demonstrated that after he had destroyed his government and inflicted so much pain on the population -- he has learnt nothing! In a word, he plans to continue spreading problems, pain and poverty – as long as we would let him. Mr Thomas clearly rejects the no confidence provision and appears ready to replace it by his right not to be “cheated” of something he previously defined as power. In fact, he may not realize that the electorate retains that power and that he may have begun to move us, the citizens of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique, closer to the chaos from which that provision intended to protect us.

Julius Gabriel

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