 |
| Premier, the Hon Joseph Parry taking oath of office |
Charlestown Nevis (July 12, 2006) By virtue of having won three of five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly following the July 10th elections, the Nevis Reformation Party became the official party to run the affairs of the Nevis Island Administration for the next five years.
During a historical ceremony on Tuesday July 11, at Grove Park in Charlestown, The Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) led by the Hon Mr. Joseph Parry was sworn into government before thousands of supporters and well wishers. The ceremony was presided over by Resident Judge in Nevis, Justice Ianthea Leighterwood- Octave.
Deputy Governor General, His Hon Mr. Eustace John delivered a brief congratulatory message to the new government. "I must first congratulate Mr. Parry for leading his team to victory. Of course there are other members of his team and we must have his deputy Mr. Daniel, I wish to congratulate him most sincerely as well and also Mr. Hector. He looks like the baby of the team."
 |
| Deputy Premier, the Hon Hensley Daniel taking oath of office |
He expressed that the process was one of democracy and that the people of Nevis had utilised such process to the best of their ability. "... anybody, anywhere in the world, whether they are in the big countries or small ones like ours, if they want to learn democracy, come to St. Kitts and Nevis in general and Nevis in particular. I would like for all of us to take our hats off and salute democracy in action in Nevis. We have demonstrated what we have and it is the best," said Mr. John.
The gathering saw the Hon Mr. Joseph Parry taking the official oath as Premier, with responsibilities for Finance, Statistics, Economic Planning, Education, Human Resources, Tourism and Labour. The Deputy Premier portfolio went to Mr. Hensley Daniel who has responsibilities for Health, Gender and Social Affairs, Youth and Sports, Community Affairs, Trade, Industry, Culture, Information and Technology.
Mr. Robelto Hector was given the responsibility of Minister of the Nevis Island Assembly, with responsibilities for Communications, Works, Public Utilities, Post, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Environment.
Addressing the enthusiastic crowd after taking office, Premier Parry expressed his gratitude to the people of Nevis for exercising their democratic right. "This is a democratic process and I've argued and reasoned that we all have the right to vote for the person whom we wish to vote for but we also have the right to change our minds if we feel that those persons were not performing and on the 10th of July you have exercised your mind and the Nevis Reformation Party were returned to office," he said.
"I must remind the people of Nevis that the Nevis Reformation Party is a party of inclusion and just like in the past we sold lands cheap all around Nevis, from Rawlins Village right down to Bath, from Pinneys right across to Potworks, from Brick Kiln right across to Eden Browne, once again the NRP will make lands and will make sure that the whole island and all of the people of this island benefit from the efforts of the NRP."
 |
| The Hon Robelto Hector taking oath of office |
In saluting the young voters, Premier Parry expressed that his party (now the government) had made several promises which it intended to keep. "We intend to keep every one of them," he added. "We believe and we continue to believe that those promises were not only sincerely but they were implementable. They could be done. In fact, many of those things Hensley Daniel could tell you that he was part of their creation and that they were implemented in St. Lucia, in Barbados and in St. Kitts. Now he is in a position to implement them right here in Nevis," said the Honourable Premier.
"Many of the promises are so good because free lunches, free text books, free tuition fees, they were done right here between 1993 and 1995. Its only a matter of going back to what we had done before. We must do it because we want all of our children to be strong, we want all of our children to be able to concentrate in school and we want all of our children to perform to the best of their ability. Nobody must feel left out, nobody must feel disadvantaged."
The Premier observed that he was able to convince the people of Nevis to return his party to government because he had no spite in his heart. "I am pleased that I have been able to convince the people of Nevis that I have no spite in my heart. I would practice no victimisation against anyone in this country. I have too much to do, too much to achieve to waste time with negative things like victimisation and bitterness."
"The democratic process worked in you. You had confidence in returning to your party and we shall not fail you. We shall not fail you. We shall not fail you. We will keep our promises and will top all. I do not mind if any one accuses any member of not performing, every one of us has a track record and that track record will speak only to positiveness in the Nevis Reformation Party."
The ceremony was preceded by an island wide victory motorcade which concluded with a rally at the Charlestown Villa.
 |
|
Members of the Nevis Island Administration moments after being sworn in office, with Deputy Governor General, His Hon Eustace John, (2nd from left) and Justice Octave (centre). |
