BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO members of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) executive neither denied nor confirmed rumours of dissent within the party regarding the continued leadership of Lindsay Grant, but failed to overtly back his re-election campaign.
In an April commentary entitled “PAM in disarray”, former Labour MP Dwyer Astaphan said he was advised that five PAM candidates were offered “meaningful assistance” by Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Douglas after a meeting with him last week.
Astaphan further alleged that the appointment resulted in those politicians being ejected from the party’s executive following a “heated” disagreement on Tuesday (Apr. 27).
The candidates in question were Glenroy Blanchette (Constituency One), Roy Flemming (Constituency Two), Bernard Welsh (Constituency Three), Junie Hodge (Constituency Six) and Ronald Williams (Constituency Seven).
Speaking exclusively to SKNVibes, Blanchette and Williams contradicted Astaphan’s claims but were tight-lipped on the alleged disagreement over Grant’s leadership. However, both men registered their concerns at the postponement of the party’s annual convention, during which its political leader is selected.
They also denied having been questioned on the alleged meeting with Dr. Douglas, which Astaphan claimed was reported that "the five gentlemen were questioned on the matter and that they did not deny having met with Dr. Douglas".
Both candidates noted that Astaphan did not seek a comment from them concerning the allegations, and deemed them as being fictitious.
“Those are absolute lies. There are a lot of rumours out there, some being spread maliciously. I’m trying to investigate as to why these rumours are being spread against PAM candidates.
“The convention and caucus were postponed, which has become an issue among the rank-and-file of the party. It’s normally held in March/April but it was pushed back to July. That is of some concern to me and to other PAM members and supporters,” Blanchette revealed.
The two candidates told SKNVibes they had been informed that Party Chairman Sydney Osbourne made the postponement decision, a call that was usually made by the national council.
Social commentator Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald and the Labour Secretariat both called for Grant’s resignation as PAM leader in the past week over his alleged involvement in a “cash for land” bribery deal in January.
The beleaguered leader said this week that he had the full support of the party’s executive and rank-and-file, but neither Blanchette nor Williams explicitly threw their weight behind Grant.
They explained that the party was currently undergoing a period of introspection, and voiced concern at members who possessed underhanded intentions.
“Any political party will have issues within the organisation, but we try to prevent from bringing party issues into the public domain. There are people in the party with malicious and devious intent who are trying to deflect attention from the real issues in the party," Blanchette stressed.
When contacted, Osbourne insisted he was not the one behind the postponement. He instead revealed that the executive had made a decision in March to delay the submission of possible convention dates to the national council.
“Nothing has gone before the council in regards of a date; there has never been a set date for the convention. The postponement was about the suggested dates, not the actual convention.
“The convention has not been postponed,” Osbourne stated.
