Commander of the St. Kitts Nevis Defense Force Colonel Patrick Wallace has come out swinging in defense of his soldiers following allegations that members of the law enforcement body acted in an inappropriate and biased manner on Election Day. One of the major complaints about the soldiers’ behavior on January 25th was that they were not carrying out their duty in bipartisan and fair manner but instead acted as enforcers for the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party. Col. Wallace denied the allegation saying it was totally false. “I have heard allegations being made against the Defense Force and I strongly challenge them. There is absolutely no truth to those allegations. On Election Day the security forces functioned in a manner which we believe was impartial. We had a duty to ensure that people voted where they were registered to vote, be they PAM or Labour, and that is in keeping with the Law of the land. That was our duty and that’s exactly what we did,” he told The Observer in an exclusive interview. The Army Commander explained that on polling day no member of the SKNDF was detailed for duty at any polling station but based on intelligence the agency had gathered, acts of disorder were anticipated in certain constituencies. One such constituency was #4, where PAM leader Lindsay Grant was contesting against Labour’s Glenn Phillip. A commotion did erupt at a Halfway Tree polling station when supporters of the PAM party raised an alarm over a group of believed Labour supporters they claimed resided in Constituency #6 that was attempting to vote in #4. Col. Wallace admitted that at the said polling station in Halfway Tree there was a commotion and soldiers responded “as they were supposed to” and made sure the situation was stabilized. He denied that soldiers transported the group of Labour supporters, who had been chased from the polling station By PAM supporters, back to the station to vote. “The Defense Force soldiers had no such mandate, they had no order to do such things and I can vouch for my men that they would not have done any such thing. My general orders on Election Day were to ensure security at polling and counting stations and to deal with any incident designed to disrupt the electoral process and threaten the public peace.” He said the desired state was citizens were able to execute their right to elect the government of their choice without fear or intimidation. “I can’t see how any of that spells partisanship. I went out and visited the soldiers in the troubled areas and I am satisfied that they did a good job. They were not there preventing PAM people from voting and ensuring Labour people voted or vice versa. They were there as impartial agents ensuring that every citizen was allowed to exercise their franchise.” He said both parties benefitted from the presence of the soldiers, making reference to a situation where two separate groups assumed to be voting for opposing parties arrived at a particular polling station to vote and were met with challenges from opposing supporters. Col. Wallace said soldiers intervened and allowed both groups to cast their votes as they were all registered at that polling station. The law enforcement head challenged those making the allegations to produce evidence that the Defense Force members obstructed PAM supporters from voting and allowed Labour supporters to vote on Election Day. He also issued a personal challenge to PAM National Spokesman Chesley Hamilton to explain statements he alleges the attorney made, telling soldiers that when the government changed after the election, those who were present in Constituency #4 would no longer have jobs and would be sent to Haiti to “pick up dead people”. “I would like Chesley Hamilton to apologize not only to the soldiers but to the people of Haiti for drawing them into this conflict. I think that was most insensitive of him and I condemn his actions. He also alleged that soldiers shot people with stun guns and I can say that on that day our soldiers did not carry rifles or stun guns,” he said, adding that soldiers were armed with side arms for their “personal protection” and to protect citizens whose lives may have been threatened. Col. Wallace said, “It is sad that at times like these people like him try to bring the good name and profession of the security forces into disrepute because had things changed, those would have been the same people demanding loyalty from the security forces. If you cannot respect the security forces when you are in opposition then you cannot respect the security forces when you form the government. They are immature amateurs!” Wallace reproached the PAM supporters who he said alleged impropriety on the part of the SKNDF soldiers and other security forces personnel, calling their actions “hypocritical”. “When the People’s Action Movement is speaking about the actions of the security forces, the security forces’ actions on that day were in direct response to PAM’s agitation. It was reported to me that Chesley Hamilton himself was spurring on the crowd to harass the soldiers. His direct words allegedly were: ‘Harass them! Attack them! Keep them busy.’ With that kind of direction, what do you expect their supporters to do and how do you expect the soldiers to respond? The confusion on that day was deliberately brought about By PAM agents like Chesley Hamilton.” Hamilton responded to the accusations made By Commander Wallace, telling The Observer that he stands By what he said on Election Day but denies he incited persons to interfere with the soldiers. “I am not afraid to say what I said. I said on the 25th [January] that there is no role is this country right now for soldiers because there is no civil unrest or disturbance. This is peacetime so there is no role for the military. I went further to say that as soon as the government changes they would be able to do our country proud because we would send them on a humanitarian mission to Haiti, all of them. No one can say that I said to attack or harass any soldier. There was no justification for [soldier’s name] using a stun gun on unarmed civilians on that day and also no need for [soldier’s name] to pull his side arm pistol and tell me he gon’ deal with me,” Hamilton said in his defense. The PAM executive said he had no issues with the actions of the police officers on duty on Election Day, “I think the police are doing a damned good job and I want the Commissioner of Police to know that.”
