Malcolm on Panton: “She is in further contempt of court”

Doctor Malcolm asserts that Panton’s recent statements put her in contempt of court. He warns that if she continues to disregard the High Court’s order, another contempt application will be filed against her. Regarding Shyne Barrow’s selection of standard bearers for the upcoming general election, Malcolm explained that reverting to the status quo before the October twentieth Unity Convention allows Barrow to choose his candidates.

 

Dr. Christopher Malcolm, Attorney-at-law

“She is in further contempt of court, in my view, because we had said that prior to then, she was, in our view, already in contempt, in my view, but as I say here, the question of whether there was a finding of contempt is ultimately a matter for the court to determine.  We are of the view that by her actions and her conduct, she has done enough for there to be a proper application made to the court for contempt of court which the court can pronounce upon and if this behavior persists, we will have no option but to renew our application with a further application for contempt of court which I think would be justified.  Mrs. Panton has had enough rope to hang herself.  Nobody has sought to hang her, and she has been engaging in actions which, quite frankly, are unbecoming and show an utter disregard for the process of the court.”

 

Reporter

“Is your client operating within the realm of the law or is he, as Tracy Panton alleges, gone far beyond what he is permitted to do?”

 

Christopher Malcolm

“Let me answer by starting, the moment she introduces the word former, in relation to Mr. Barrow, shows you how misguided Mrs. Panton is, because there is nothing former about Mr. Barrow’s leadership in relation to the U.D.P. at this time.  So we can start there and get that established.  The other thing is, by reverting the status ante, the court has said that Mr. Barrow is not only the leader of the party, but empowered by reference to the U.D.P. constitution to do such things and acts as are appropriate for the proper functioning of the party which includes its preparations for the upcoming elections. So what Mr. Barrow is doing, the question that must be asked, is he doing anything that proper leader would not require which is to, among other things, ensure that the U.D.P. has the best chance possible to select candidates under his leadership who are best able to contest the elections.  Is there anything wrong with doing those things?  And the answer is absolutely no.”