BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the Sunday (Feb. 7) revelation of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s (SKNLP) nine-member Cabinet, a high-ranking People’s Action Movement (PAM) official has insisted that the Federation is moving towards a one-party state.
In a communiqué disseminated by the PAM Secretariat, party Deputy Leader Shawn Richards said the new Cabinet was a clear indication that Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas intends to become “ruler for life”.
During a lavish ceremony over the weekend, PM Douglas and eight others representing the SKNLP and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) were officially sworn in as government ministers. Neither representatives from PAM nor the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) were included in the executive body, despite attaining two Seats apiece in the January 25 election.
The incumbent SKNLP maintained its majority by winning six Seats, while the NRP retained its one constituency.
SKNVibes contacted Richards, who stressed that PAM was not disappointed at the exclusion because it had never expected to be included in the first place. Richards claimed that the appointment of Nevisian Patrice Nisbett as Attorney-General was a classic case of political expediency and he hoped the NRP did not face negative political repercussions as a result.
“The Prime Minister has never indicated political maturity in terms of working with all political parties in St. Kitts. I’m not surprised that no PAM or CCM representatives are in his Cabinet.
“I do believe there is a reason he included NRP, and that is because he is facing a court challenge in regards to Constituency Four. If the court rules against his candidate, he would have ended up in a situation with five seats and six persons on the opposition benches. That is why he included NRP – to bolster his strength on the government benches.”
PAM Leader Lindsay Grant narrowly lost Constituency Four to Labour newcomer Glenn Phillip in the election. The party is also challenging the results in constituencies one and two.
Richards, who will again represent Constituency Five when Parliament reconvenes, gave his opinion on the newly formed Cabinet.
“When you look at the ministerial appointments, it is rather interesting. It would appear that Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris has been demoted. He previously held Finance, but that has been taken away from him by the Prime Minister, who now holds it. Douglas had this portfolio before and failed. Under his stewardship, we had the highest public debt in our history and one of the highest per capita in the world.
“On the other hand, [Douglas] has now given National Security to [Deputy Prime Minister] Hon. Sam Condor after taking us to the highest murder rate in our history and one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world. I can only hope that means he knows he has failed, and has accepted it.
“It is also interesting that just last week, Condor did an interview where he stated that he was happy with the job he had done in Education. A few days later, he is no longer the Minister, despite the fact that he thinks he has done a magnificent job. Perhaps the Prime Minister disagreed,” Richards said.
The PAM Deputy also raised concerns about the appointment of Hon. Nigel Carty as the new Education Minister, as well as the appointment of the SKNLP’s two unsuccessful election candidates, Cedric Liburd and Dr. Norgen Wilson, as government advisors.
“In 1993, when [former Prime Minister] Hon. Dr. Sir Kennedy Simmonds appointed some of his losing candidates as advisors, Douglas and his colleagues insisted that failed candidates should not be paid out of the public purse. Now they have gone and done the same thing. The people can judge for themselves what that makes them.”
