KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, March 12, IWN — Any lawsuit by Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace against Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves in relations to comments Gonsalves made on radio on Feb. 17 will be “vigorously defended”.
Gonsalves on March 5 responded to a Feb. 27 letter by Eustace’s lawyer, in which the Opposition Leader asked the Prime Minister to apologize for the comments and pay him EC$140,001.
“I am satisfied that your lawyer’s said letter to me is without legal merit,” Gonsalves, a lawyer, wrote to Eustace.
“Be assured that any further legal action against me in this matter would be vigorously defended. I feel certain that your public posture, combined with poor advice, may compel you to proceed with your threatened legal action,” he further said in the letter.
“I advise, gratuitously, that you reconsider. Believe me, I am very familiar with the legal jungle of sharply contested defamation cases, including the breadth of their parameters, between persons who hold formal leadership positions in political parties. So, a word to the wise,” Gonsalves further said.
He said he has chosen to Eustace directly “because of the criss-crossing of legal and political issues in this instant matter” and that he intends no disrespect to either of their lawyers.
Eustace claims that Gonsalves defamed him when he reported to the nation an encounter he had with two BBC journalists in Barbados on Feb. 17.