BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - LEADERS of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) and the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) have given Prime Minister and Leader of the People’s Labour Party (PLP) Dr. Timothy Harris until Wednesday (Apr. 20) to make a decision on the way forward for their proposals.
Premier Mark Brantley (CCM) and Shawn Richards (PAM) met with the Prime Minister last week in a follow-up to their initial meeting in the previous week, where a number of recommendations and proposals were laid before Dr. Harris.
However, those were not taken onboard and the Prime Minister proposed to implement several changes as part of a roadmap for the Government, including a code of ethics for Cabinet Ministers and proper accountability for various government ministries and departments.
But no firm decisions on major issues were concretised at Thursday’s (Apr. 14) meeting held at Government Headquarters, which had forced Richards to consult his caucus on the way forward.
Now, Premier Brantley has informed that the two Leaders have agreed to give the PLP boss until Wednesday to fix issues within the group or the coalition would be dissolved.
“...the Honourable Shawn Richard and I have delivered written communication to the Honourable Prime Minister setting out our position for a path forward. We have taken the unprecedented step of putting a deadline of Wednesday, April 20th, 2022 for a response from the Prime Minister, barring which we can only conclude that he and his team have no interest or desire to save this Team Unity government. We shall therefore know by Wednesday whether we can achieve resolution or face dissolution.”
Brantley believes that the Prime Minister is playing for time as the recommendations put forward included having the World Bank review the “fair share” position for the Citizenship By Investment programme.
“Given the obvious preparations on the ground by the PLP for a possible election, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that the Honourable Prime Minister is not concerned about saving Team Unity but is merely playing for time, hoping to maintain the status quo for as long as possible while the serious concerns about the current path of Team Unity are ignored,” the Premier disclosed.
He added: “If I can take but one example to prove my point. It boggles the mind why the Honourable Prime Minister, a trained accountant and highly astute financial manager, would continue peddling a notion that we need the World Bank to come in to do a study to tell us how to calculate the monies received from CBI; subtract the expenses of the program, and divide the balance on a pro rata population basis between Basseterre and Charlestown as was agreed as a central plank of the Team Unity construct.”
While reflecting on the development of the coalition Team Unity, Brantley, in a national address, conceded that the grouping has lost its way and could no longer resolve its difference internally as is evident with “a public spectacle of which none of us can be proud”.
“PAM, CCM and PLP came together under an umbrella of Team Unity offering a better way for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. We were able then in the harsh winter of political opposition to put aside our differences, to compromise and to fashion a framework for engagement amongst each other and for our people which remains the greatest political idea in the post-Independence history of our country,” he said.
Brantley continued: “Team Unity was designed to emphasise the Team and the oneness of purpose. It was designed to bring the people of St. Kitts and Nevis together and to end the decades-old tribalism and parochialism in our country. But to achieve any of these lofty objectives, there was, is and will always be the need for leadership that is humble, visionary and inclusive. I remind us all that there is no ‘I’ in Team and no ‘me’ in Unity.”
The CCM Leader went a step further and noted that no efforts were made by the PLP Leader, who is also Leader of the coalition, to bring the parties together to iron out their differences, which came to light at the PAM’s Convention and PLP Convention last month.
“Both the Leader of PAM and I set out in extensive detail the serious concerns that we had with the manner in which the Prime Minister was managing Team Unity as leader. We went on to indicate to him our recommendations for ameliorating the position and allowing us to move forward with greater comfort and assurance that the concerns would not only be addressed but would not be allowed to reoccur.
“...both the Honourable Richards and I agreed that he would need time to reflect and a second meeting was convened for Holy Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
“Naturally we expected that having set out the issues of concern and the recommendations for resolution of those issues, the Honourable Prime Minister would have come to the meeting on Holy Thursday with his response to the clear recommendations made having had eight days to reflect and consider.
“This however proved not to be the case and instead the Prime Minister failed and or refused to address decisively any of the issues raised, choosing instead to suggest that we develop a framework for further discussions, a code of conduct for Cabinet, and inviting the World Bank to study the issue of a pro rata share of CBI proceeds for Nevis,” Brantley noted.
With one additional week left to iron out their differences, many political pundits are of the strong view that elections are imminent.
