BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT is being alleged that a small group of individuals within the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s Administration are bent on undermining the efforts of Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew.
This allegation, among others, was made by the former Minister of National Security under the Dr. Denzil Douglas’ Administration, Dwyer Astaphan, during his recent commentary aired on Freedom FM.
Refraining from calling names, Astaphan claimed that the group is made up of underminers, liars, square pegs in round holes, opportunists and dead-weights, all of whom professed their loyalty to Dr. Drew’s leadership, but “I know what some of them are doing and I know their man-of-business, and it isn’t Dr. Drew”.
“All of these groups, which I have mentioned, are already doing damage and they must be stopped. Some of you are going to be displeased with me for saying these things, but if you are one of the liars and underminers, you know that I and other people are now on to you,” Dwyer added.
He however noted that if any of those within the Administration were not members of that group, but just innocent bystanders who are “sceptial of what I am saying, in time you will see, but I am not waiting”.
The social commentator reminded that he is a supporter of the philosophy of the Labour Movement and that he appreciates its great accomplishments on behalf of the people of the twin-island Federation over the past 90-plus years.
Astaphan declared that he was not attacking anyone, but the revelations in his commentary could see some individuals doing jail time for crimes they had committed against the people of the Federation.
Reiterating his stance on commentaries, he said: “I don’t attack, rather, I observe, I do my research and I deliver. And when I tell you something is a fact, it is. And when I could tell you something is likely to happen, the record shows that it usually does happen. When I spoke against things that have been done under the Simmonds Administration, and then the Douglas Administration, and then the Harris Administration, the pushback came mainly in the form of personal abuse, hate mongering and so forth. Not in the form of reasoned responses and rebuttals. You see, people don’t respond to logic often with logic, so they would respond with personal abuse. And in this process, in my days of advocacy and agitation going back to the early nineties, three Prime Ministers had lost their jobs, and deservedly so.
He pointed out that Prime Minister Drew had earned his way to the leadership of St. Kitts and Nevis and he deserves a fair chance to prove his worth.
However, Astaphan stated that Dr. Drew could only do that by making sound decisions, taking sound advice, avoiding yes men and women, opportunists and square pegs who were called to fit into round holes, as well as neutralising the deceptive ones.
Astaphan deeclared that he is backing Dr. Drew and the Labour Party under his leadership, adding: “I will do what I have to do to smoke out the liars and the underminers, and the square pegs, and the opportunists, and the other dead-weights.”
He asserted that the country needs a “lean and clean machine” and the final group of persons who need to step-up their game are Dr. Drew’s elected colleagues, who must remember that they were elected to Parliament and not to Cabinet.
“They [elected members] are first and foremost Representatives of the people and they must act accordingly, busy as they may be with their their ministerial duties! They must never lose touch with the people on the ground. Remember, nobody forced them into cadidacy. Whether as Represenatives or Ministers, they must keep in touch with the ground and keep at the forefront of their thoughts and actions, the empowerment of the people of this country, especially the small man and woman,” he posited.
In furtherance of the negative forces to which he referred, Astaphan said they are not unique to the Drew Administration, because they exist in all parties and organisations, “and always did even in this organisation and this Government and this country, which has a popular leader in Dr. Drew. And though these people may be small in number, I mean the liars and the underminers particularly, they need to be smoked out, regardless of how high up the ladder they may be positioned. Similarly, of course, the square pegs, the opportunists and the dead-weights”.
The former Government Minister intimated that a member of the dissident group had told an investor to encourage Prime Minister Drew to “bring back Galaxy who milked this country for hundreds of millions of US dollars”, and there is nothing to show for it.
He asked the following questions: “Can you imagine one of them bad-mouthing the young Cabinet to an investor? Can you imagine one of them telling an investor who wants to build a small number of residences here for super billionaires who can do so much to help our country and our people, can you imagine one of them telling an investor that is not a good idea, that the country doesn’t want that?”
Astaphan continued: “Can you imagine one of them telling a big investor, whose money is clean and who can create serious economic opportunity and jobs in the country, that the investor’s paperwork must fit into the queque, not high priority, waits its turn for months maybe before it can be addressed?”
He stressed that those are some of the things the liars and underminers are saying and doing.
“That is why they must be stopped! And that is why we are going to smoke them out! They are not going to be allowed to torpedo the efforts of Dr. Drew and the people of this country to get to where we all need to be. Those days are done and those types of people must go!” he concluded.
