In the aftermath of the General Elections of February 16th, 2015, as a nation, we have had reason to pause and engage in some serious reflection, in a number of areas, not the least of which is the uncanny way in which history was repeated.
It is as if people today take pride in ignoring the lessons of the past and run headlong into the same pitfalls encountered by their predecessors, even when those predecessors are in the very recent past. An old saying by the Spanish Poet George Santayana, rings true: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. The infamous Jim Jones whose leadership led to the mass murder/suicide of almost a thousand people in the jungles of Guyana in 1978, rephrased it thus: “Those who do not remember the past a condemned forever to repeat it”.
In this piece, I will endeavor to show some parallels between the former administration of Dr. Denzil Douglas and its immediate past predecessor, the PAM/NRP, which came to an end in 1995.
Coalitions:
Each of the administrations was a coalition, having depended upon its Nevis partner in order to remain in office. In 1980, PAM won only three of the seven seats on St. Kitts and, in order to form the government, partnered with NRP who had picked up the two seats on Nevis. By the next election, in 1984, PAM captured six of the seats on St. Kitts and, although it did not discard NRP, it had sufficient seats to have been able to form the government on its own. That comfort lasted until 1993 when, again in partnership with NRP, it formed a minority government with only 5 seats, and that lasted until the election of 1995.
Where Labour is concerned, it formed the government on its own in 1995 by capturing seven of the eight seats on St. Kitts and, by the next election, in 2000, took ALL 8. Things began to change, however, by the election of 2004 when they lost one, and another in 2010. By 2013, the majority became a minority of only five seats when, like Prime Minister Simmonds 20 years earlier, Dr. Douglas dismissed Dr. Timothy Harris, prompting the resignation Sam Condor.
And, just like the minority PAM/NRP government was defeated at the polls in just about two years, so was Labour/NRP, two weeks ago.
Dismissals:
During the tenure of the PAM/NRP administration, there was the dismissal of Michael Powell, over a matter that has never been explained to the public. In fact, Powell went on to found his own political party, the UPP, which so badly damaged PAM’s chances, especially in Constituency No. 1, that PAM lost that seat to Dr. Earl Asim Martin, as well as No. 7 to Dr. Timothy Harris.
The parallel to this is that, in late January 2013, Dr. Douglas took the decision to fire Dr. Harris and, shortly thereafter, Sam Condor tendered his resignation. They moved to found their own party, the PLP which, today, is part of the new administration. In fact, Dr. Harris is now the Prime Minister, succeeding the man who fired him.
Bridge to Nevis:
I recall that, one day, during the dying days of the PAM/NRP administration, it was being announced every once in a while over state media, that the Prime Minister was scheduled to make an important announcement. It was a time when the country was anticipating the calling of the election so everyone was prepared to hear the announcement of the date. However, when that time came, Dr. Simmonds did not announce the date but, instead, proposed the building of a bridge between St. Kitts and Nevis. It is not as if this happened some time in antiquity before either of us was born but my classmate, Dr. Earl Asim Martin, Deputy Prime Minister under Dr. Douglas, just about three weeks ago, proposed the same thing. In neither case was it enough to keep the sitting government in office.
Single Leader
One of the promises that Team Unity made while it was in opposition, was that they will introduce term limits on the office of the Prime Minister. This must have been prompted by the fact that, in 35 years, this country has had only two leaders. It means, therefore, that, at this rate, we will have had only 6 leaders in 100 years. Contrast that with a country like the US, where, in the last 35 years, there were Presidents:
• Ronald Reagan 1980 - 1988
• George H. W Bush 1988 - 1992
• Bill Clinton 1992 - 2000
• George W. Bush 2000 - 2008
• Barack Obama 2008 - Present
The idea that former Prime Ministers Simmonds and Douglas remained at the helm for the entire duration of their parties’ times in office, is indicative of the idea that each felt that he was the person best suited for the job. In reality, as time went by, each became bereft of ideas and, as a consequence, lost the support of the majority of the people on the ground.
Plane Loads
While the applicable laws allow for nationals living abroad to journey back home to vote, the reality is that, the people on the ground are the ones who feel the heat and must, therefore, vote with the hope of bringing relief to themselves. That notwithstanding, at every election, the party with the deeper pockets flies in more voters who have traditionally made the difference in some borderline constituencies, then fly them back out, in many instances, on the same day. The relief that the locals seek has, on several occasions, been frustrated by the massive influx of overseas voters. As a matter of fact, that final plane that the Labour Party now alleges was “…sabotaged…” by Team Unity, would have been sufficient to have made the difference. It would have given the Labour Party the votes it needed in order to ignore the feelings and frustrations of the locals.
I have been told that, in 1993, many who were flown in by PAM, actually replaced their yellow/gold shirts with the red ones provided by the Opposition Labour Party. This time around, however, the reverse is said to have happened on some of the almost-30 flights brought in by the Labour party.
All that this proves, is that, with time, the vicious cycle kicks in. The pitfalls of the past, figure prominently in the present and bring lofty figures tumbling down from their pedestals. The question is, will Team Unity be able to avoid the same parallels mentioned herein?
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