BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MEMBERS of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in the House of Parliament have indicated their willingness to welcome and embrace their counterparts on the government benches should they decide to cross the floor.
In recent times, specific happenings have suggested that some members of Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas’ Cabinet – particularly his Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor - are not necessarily pleased with his conduct of the affairs of St. Kitts-Nevis.
Other unsubstantiated rumours suggest that at least one other member of the Douglas-led administration is grossly dissatisfied with the PM’s leadership of the government.
Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament Hon. Mark Brantley told SKNVibes that persons who might be wishing to cross the Parliamentary floor would be readily welcomed and accepted.
“There are good people, people who in my view love this country, who are patriotic and want the best for this country, who sit - for the moment - on the benches of the government side. And I am saying to those people of goodwill…they are entitled to exercise their right as agitated by their conscience to cross the floor.
“And if they are so minded, then we are very happy, eager and willing to receive them and through that mechanism to effect change. That is the position that we are advocating, and we have said publicly and we have no difficulty with it because we understand that to rescue this country it is not within the province of just one party or one individual. It will require a collective effort by people who are interested in putting the country first.”
He noted that the dynamic of the House would change should two persons leave the government benches and sit on the opposition benches, which would result in a change in government.
“We now have 11 seats in the House; seven of those seats are on the government side and four sit on the opposition side. If two were to leave the government side…it would mean that the balance of Parliament would change and the government side would only have five and the opposition would have six. That would, in effect, result in a change of government… And if that were to happen, I suspect if that happens it would be more than two. Let me put that on record.”
Another Opposition MP, the Hon. Shawn K. Richards – as expressed to this publication – is of the view that any MP on the government benches wishing to sit on the opposition benches and assist in the advancement of proposals which would redound to the benefit of the people of the country, are welcomed.
“In hearing that there are persons from the government benches who are not satisfied with the way in which the Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas is running this country, as a member of the opposition benches, we do welcome anyone from the government benches over to join us on the opposition benches. We are about putting forward proposals for the betterment of the country and, as such, anyone on the government benches who would want to join us in ensuring that at the end of the day we have a better St. Kitts and Nevis, we do openly welcome those persons.”
Asked about which MP he heard is dissatisfied, Richards said, “I am not referring specifically to anyone because – as I said – it’s an open invitation for any particular member of the government benches. However, we have been hearing in the public that two ministers in particular are not exactly pleased with how the Prime Minister is going about running the affairs of this Federation; specifically the Hon. Sam Condor and the Hon. Timothy Harris.”
MP Richards did not exactly indicate whether or not he believes that rumoured disgruntled government MPs would actually cross the floor. He however noted that “anything is possible and I am not ruling out any possibilities”.
