BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER many years in wait by those who had never heard and wanted to get get the Prime Minister’s take on the 1993 Protest March, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas explained the reason for taking that action and why he had called on parents to allow their children to join in the activity.
Dr. Douglas was at the time (Oct. 28) addressing the Basseterre High School issue on his weekly radio programme, ‘Ask the PM’, during which he berated the teachers for encouraging students to join them in a protest when they should have been in the classrooms teaching the children.
As a result of his comments, a male called in to the programme and asked Dr. Douglas a number of questions, including if he could say something about the time in 1993 when “you asked the very same students to come out and protest with their parents”.
At that time, the People’s Action Movement was in government and the Douglas-led St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) was in opposition. It was also during that time when constituents in the twin-island Federation went to the polls and the contesting parting in St. Kitts reached a stalemate with four seats each.
“In 1993there was election; the election that was held inconclusive. There were negotiations with the Governor- General at that time for a new government to be put in place. I had just concluded my negotiations with the Governor-General. It would have been that he was going to get back to me within a matter of three hours because he had to first negotiate with the other party headed by Dr. Simmonds who was still the Prime Minister from the elections before.
“And while we were marching down the streets of Basseterre from Government House to our Party Headquarters, the Governor-General had deceptively started to swear-in Dr. Simmonds and his government in Office,” D. Douglas explained.
He told the caller that the SKNLP had called on its supporter to come out and protest on the following day and requested that they did not send their children to school and that they should all join against “what was an unjust and unfair action against the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, jointly by the Governor-General and the People’s Action Movement”.
He declared that the 1993 Protest March was vastly different to what was demonstrated by the teachers and students of Basseterre High School.
“It is completely different from what is happening today. When I said, as I said before, a few moments ago, if after full analysis of the health and environmental conditions in the Basseterre High School after a full assessment by two organisations that have been agreed upon by the teachers themselves at the school and the government and the Parent Teachers Association and the Union having now hear the reports and have said that school is fit to continue to be an environment conducive to learning and teaching and they continue to hold out after this, I am saying that the action being taken by the teachers is irresponsible. Even though it may be called by their Union, it is irresponsible, because they cannot be judge and jury,” the Prime Minister said.
