BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris on Sunday (May 17) joined with some members of the Guyanese community in St. Kitts and Nevis to celebrate the change of Government in the South American country.
The change was as a result of the May 11 General and Regional Elections which had seen the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition defeating the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which had been in power for almost 23 years.
The change had also seen Retired Army Brigadier General David Arthur Granger as the eighth Executive President of Guyana with former PPP/C stalwart Moses Nagamootoo as Prime Minister.
The coalition had won by a narrow margin, gaining 206,817 votes while the long-governing PPP/C accumulated 201,457; a victory which saw APNU+AFC taking 33 of the 65 seats in Parliament.
The celebration was held at the Manhattan Gardens in Lime Kiln and was also attended by Minister of Public Infrastructure the Hon. Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the PM Osbert De Suza and PM’s Press Secretary Clecton Phillip.
In his address, PM Harris offered his congratulations to those Guyanese present at the event and equated APNU+AFC’s victory with that of Team Unity’s on February 16, while sharing his opinion that many things could go wrong when one government is in power for too long.
“There are many commonalities between what has taken place in Guyana and what had taken place on February 16 in St. Kitts and Nevis. A long period of one government that over time had become tired of serving the people in the appropriate way; a long period of one government that over time came to believe that they were the lords of the people; a long period of one government which over time became more interested in preserving itself and those who were close to it, and the mass of the people, through their lives, working lives, their family lives knew that nothing nah go on foh dem. And that is what the people of Guyana, in the elections just over, voted for change and to bring in a new fresh government with President Granger in the hope that he will take Guyana to a next level of development.”
He said that democracy is of precious value and should be cherished because it allows the electorate to be able to get the kind of government that they want. “Democracy allows us to say when the government of our choice is not performing that we will try another, and we must keep trying until we get a government that is truly working for us. We want Team Unity to be a government always at work for the people and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Also in his congratulatory message, the Prime Minister declared that the Team Unity Government is a friend of all non-nationals residing in the Federation.
“This is your day and your special event, and I want to offer congratulations to you and to let you know in Team Unity in St. Kitts and Nevis you have a Government that will be your best friend as you reside here in St. Kitts and Nevis. We have made the commitment to you throughout the campaign that the Team Unity’s platform was a sincere and genuine one on which you could depend upon, and we intend while in government to do all those things that we promised we will do on behalf of the Guyanese community, on behalf of the Jamaican community and on behalf of the community of residents of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and elsewhere. Wherever you come from, we want and we will work to ensure that St. Kitts and Nevis becomes the best place in which you can live, work and prosper.”
Dr. Harris also likened a post election situation in Guyana to one that existed in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“I congratulate the people of Guyana for their lovely choice. This is their choice, and in a democracy we have come to say the voice of the people is the voice of God. And so I congratulate all of you who have come out to celebrate the return of democracy in your country. The opportunity to do peaceful transition is an important one. And even then as President Ramotar on his way out was being stubborn about the election, wanting to count again, and again, and again, we had the same thing here. But, ultimately, the wishes of the people were very clearly spoken and recorded. And we are very grateful that without too many incidents, ultimately the will of the people triumphed and Guyanese of all walks of life were in the streets celebrating ‘thank God the change has come’.”
He also thanked all those Guyanese who had supported Team Unity in the February 16 Elections, adding that “I know many of you were strong in the support and I personally have some very good friends here”.
As it was in Guyana on Saturday (May 16) when Granger was sworn in as President, Prime Minister Harris and the other invitees, along with the Guyanese, stood and held the hands of the persons next to them while singing one of that country’s patriotic songs – ‘Let Us Cooperate’.
