~~Adz:Left~~ BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (June 13, 2007): "In shock": that is how the Honourable Mark Brantley of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) describes the party members now as they grieve the sudden loss of the Honourable Malcolm Guishard, their deputy leader from 1992 up until his death. Mr. Guishard who served as the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Federal Parliament died early on the morning of Monday, June 11, shortly after complaining of breathing trouble, following a swim. He was 55 years old.

Mr. Brantley told SKNIS's Valencia Grant on Monday that CCM Party Leader, the Honourable Vance Amory is in London, and is "making every effort to comeback as quickly as he can."

CCM Chairman Stedmond Tross told Ms. Grant on Monday that the late Honourable Guishard was a dedicated member of the Concerned Citizens Movement. Mr. Tross said, "Malcolm was a people's person. He loved his people." In fact, according to the Nevis Historical & Conservation Society, Mr. Guishard's favourite words were "my people."

If you pore over the Parliament tapes, you will find his speeches peppered with references to "my people", "our young people", and to "the ordinary manand woman on the street." One such example follows from a recording of the Budget Session on Tuesday, February 22, 2005: "The ordinary man on the street, when he or she speaks to the Budget he or she speaks of things that really affect their lives; their interest in the Budget is, "What [am I] getting out of the Budget?"

The electorate arguably got a lot out of his political representation of them. Vance Amory, the Political Leader of CCM, summed up everyone's loss yesterday, speaking on SKNIS's talk radio program Island Issues, via phone.

"We have lost a man who has made a solid contribution to the political and economic development of his country," Mr. Amory said. "The issue of housing development in Nevis was one of his ideas and he worked tirelessly to ensure that so many persons in Nevis received affordable houses. The transformationof agriculture in Nevis under his Ministry, under his watch; the institutionand revival of the Agricultural Fair and Exhibition, and the extension and development of the tourism industry are due to his indomitable spirit and his energy and love of what he was elected to do, and what he wanted to do as a political leader and a Minister of Government. I do believe that our party, the Concerned Citizens Movement has lost a stalwart, and we certainlywill miss his energy, we will miss his creative ideas, and we will miss his strength."~~Adz:Right~~

This steely determination, creative energy, and strength were very much evident in his politics. Mr. Stedmond Tross added on Monday that, "He believed in what he was doing. He believed in his politics."

His politics was defined in part by a fervent support for an independent Nevis. This was apparent during the late Honourable Guishard's last address to Parliament on December 13, 2006.

The Late Honourable Malcolm Guishard said then that, "I do not believe that there's anyone in Nevis who would object to stepping stones as it were towards the eventual independence of Nevis because I believe that independence must come for the people of Nevis, if not now, if not tomorrow,maybe the morrow after."

The late Honourable Guishard's fellow Parliamentarians and colleagues express sadness that there are no more tomorrows for him. Some of them spokewith SKNIS's Glen Bart, the host of Island Issues, on Tuesday between 11a.m.and 12p.m. on ZIZ Radio. They included the Honourable Mark Brantley, who wasin the ZIZ Radio studio, along with Deputy Prime Minister the Honourable Sam

Condor who is the Minister responsible for Parliamentary Business; Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Cedric Liburd, and the Honourable Shawn Richards of the People's Action Movement (PAM). Stedmond Tross phoned in from Nevis. Honourable Consul to Brazil, Mr. Gus Williams, a long-time friend of Mr. Guishard's was also in studio. CHOICE FM out of Nevis carried the program live.

Mr. Tross, the Chairman of the Concerned Citizens Movement, said on Monday that the late Honourable Malcolm Guishard was known as a family man. He is survived by his mother; his wife, and children.

~~Adz:Left~~Mr. Guishard attended the St. Johns and Prospect primary schools, and Charlestown Secondary School. Between 1971 and 1973, he taught at the Gingerland junior school and then at the Gingerland high school from 1973 to1975. He pursued his tertiary education at the Caribbean Union College (CUC) in Trinidad, majoring in Business Education.

The late Honourable Guishard was employed as an accountant of Higgs and Hill, a construction company between 1975 and 1977. Between 1977 and 1980, he was owner and manager of Hamilton Quarries. Between 1980 and 1985, he worked as an accounts clerk at Shell Antilles and Guianas Ltd. This businessbackground was put to good use in Parliament, as he was nominated as Chairman of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee in January 2006, and served in that capacity right up to his death.

Mr. Guishard contested the Federal Election as a Concerned Citizens Movement

(CCM) candidate in 1989, but he lost to Premier Simeon Daniel. In June 1992,the late Honourable Guishard contested the Nevis Local Election and won.

He had a successful track record at the polls. In the Federal Elections of October 2004, as the incumbent, he defeated his political opponent, Mr.

Hensley Daniel of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP). Mr. Guishard received 986 votes compared to Daniel's 861 votes. Back in September 2001, during theNevis Island General Elections, Mr. Guishard won against Mr. Daniel, 802 to 655.

His long-held dominance over Mr. Daniel changed during the Nevis Island General Elections in July 2006. The final constituency to be counted was Nevis 2 St. John's/Fig Tree: theirs. After the first two boxes, they were in a 444 dead heat, but the Honourable Hensley Daniel triumphed, beating Mr. Guishard: 933 to 905. The NRP won the elections by a three-seat to two-seat victory, after 14 years of CCM's reign.

Valencia Grant spoke with Deputy Premier of Nevis, the Honourable Hensley Daniel about the late Honourable Malcolm Guishard.

The Deputy Premier said that, "I was saddened by the death of Mr. Guishard.

We crossed political swords, but we remained very cordial and we had a very good relationship. Whenever we met, we had long discussions about issues related to young people, about crime and violence. We have always had exchange. We, I think, modeled the kind of relationship, which politicians should have: we opposed each other for different political parties, but the opposition was left at the political level."Deputy Premier Daniel added, "At the personal level, we had good social exchange and good social interaction. In any assessment, we maintained a good social relationship."

He continued, "When it comes to the political campaigning, both of us extended our full energy. Mr. Daniel reiterated, "We extended our full energy, but we maintained very good relations."

Mr. Daniel conceded that, "He was a tough contender, and so we had to get tough as well." He added that, "We didn't have a tribal approach. We extended our full energies. The first time I competed against him I lost by 12 votes, and then afterwards it was him doubling his energies and I tripling mine, to achieve our own objectives," he laughed.~~Adz:Right~~

"So, I guess you definitely brought out the best, or the most competitive in each other," Ms. Grant stated.

"Yes, yes, yes," Mr. Daniel concurred, emphatically. "He was very competitive. I could only be competitive; if you're in the Opposition you have to be competitive as opposed to being combative. We were competitive, not combative," he said.

"I was very saddened to see that he has passed at such a young age because he was a man who loved life, loved laughter, and loved fun," Deputy Premier Daniel added.