June 01/2003: -The executive of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) has recommended the sacking of Jacqueline Theodore as a government senator but Prime Minister Pierre Charles has failed to act, several senior DLP officials have told the Sun.

    And many are wondering what is preventing Charles from firing her, complained the sources.

    "The party has recommended that she should be sacked as senator but everything is in the hands of the Prime Minister," said one executive member who spoke on the usual condition of anonymity. "I don't know what is holding him back. But the party itself does not want her to be a senator."

    "The party has spoken and discussed (firing Theodore) for months now but the decision hasn't been implemented," stated another source.

    Theodore, who unsuccessfully contested the Castle Bruce seat for the DLP in the 2000 general election, was appointed a government senator and named parliamentary secretary in the ministry of health.

    Several attempts to reach her for this story were unsuccessful. However, DLP sources said that she felt slighted when then Prime Minister Rosie Douglas encouraged Loreen Bannis, who had won the seat on a United Workers Party ticket, to cross the floor.

    The sources said that Theodore had not forgiven the party and that her relationship with the DLP deteriorated as Bannis cemented herself in the government and became the favourite to contest the seat for the DLP in the next election.

    "She (Theodore) felt that if she ran for the party why should we be talking to Loreen. We tried to get her to try to communicate with Loreen who is the parliamentary representative but she was very difficult. We couldn't get her to do that at all," said one senior official.

    "She does not attend party meetings. We can't tell when last she went to a party meeting. She's a really difficult woman. A real, real difficult woman to deal with" added the official, echoing several other senior DLP officers.

    "That's a mystery woman. She is a difficult person to deal with. She is indifferent," another DLP official said of Theodore, adding that it was likely that the Prime Minister first wanted to identify a potential candidate "who can carry a constituency" before replacing the embattled senator.

    But patience seems to be running out as puzzled DLP members, worried that Theodore "has refused to articulate the party's position" wonder if their leader would act before it was too late.

    "The party has taken a decision to move her and a lot of persons on the ground have a concern (that Charles was not acting). I don't see why you should have her there. But it's almost too late now. I don't see the rational for having her in the parliament," said one executive member. "Quite a few people in the party, both supporters and the executive are unhappy. That is why the Prime Minister needs to take action quickly. Elections are in a year and a half and quite a few party people in the party will be unhappy if she is the candidate (for the Castle Bruce constituency)."

    However, another senior DLP official has told the Sun that it was unlikely that Theodore would contest the election on a DLP ticket, saying that Bannis was the choice to carry the party's banner in the eastern constituency.

    "Loreen is the parliamentary representative and everything goes through her. Loreen is on board. We are working all along with her. Loreen is very much at home with us," said the official.

    "Loreen has given some indication that she would run (as a DLP candidate). Her interest really lies in the DLP (and) she has that keen interest but she has to go through the process," added another senior official, meaning her candidacy would have to be ratified by and chosen by the constituency association.

    The official said that the party needed new blood with new ideas and that Bannis would bring "a more balanced knowledge" of the party. But there remained some concern that Theodore could cause trouble for the DLP in the constituency by entering the race on an opposition UWP ticket.

    According to the official: "I don't see her running for any of the (other political) parties but if the party decides not to run with her she might just decide to get at somebody. She is a time bomb. She can explode any time."