BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 11, 2010(Labour Secretariat Press Release) - His megalomaniac aspirations of becoming the next Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis has convinced Lindsay Grant, Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), that he must desperately cling to power at any and all cost, even when more noble and honourable leaders have stepped aside in their political careers.
But Grant’s losing game has not being afforded the privilege of a level playing field. He has not been straight with his own colleagues.
In a letter written to Mr. Sidney Osbourne, Chairman of the PAM, the “Gang of Five” (Glenroy Blanchette, Roy Angus Fleming, Bernard Welsh, Junie Hodge, Ronald Louis Williams) said that they loved their party but that they had “become concerned about the sentiments of a vast number of PAM supporters who believe that Mr. Grant should step down as political leader”.
The disgruntled five said that Grant’s “errors in judgment during the 2010 General Election have significantly hurt the party”.
The dissenting five went on to say that the US $1.7 million bribery scandal at the Marriott Hotel damaged the party’s chances at the polls.
They raised serious questions about the lack of transparency and accountability with campaign finances, and there were other allegations not in the letter, that Grant accrued most of the campaign finances for his personal agenda and used it in his constituency.
The letter also stated that “Grant’s disappearing act after the General Elections and his failure to provide leadership to the thousands of supporters who put their lives and jobs on the line for the party” is among the sufficient reasons why Grant should step down immediately.
Grant’s decision to postpone the National Annual Convention and Caucus was unconstitutional, the rebellious five said, and that candidates have been excluded from the decision-making process with respect to party affairs.
The point was also made that Grant’s overall poor leadership during the 2010 General Election campaign is another reason that suffices for his resignation immediately.
Things will never be the same for the “Gang of Five”, who committed the mortal sin of writing a letter asking that Grant immediately relinquish his position as leader of the PAM. Already they have been threatened and abused by the powers that be in the PAM’s cabal and Grant’s henchmen.
The calls for him to step down immediately as party leader from those within his own camp and a vast number of PAM supporters have gone unheeded, while he continues to exhibit his exaggerated pride and ambition (hubris) as if they were noble qualities.
Grant has said that he continues to have the support of the party executive and its rank and file, but this only reveals a party whose modus operandi is elitist in nature and concerned about power concentrated in the hands of a few, while the voices of the vast number of PAM’s supporters are ignored.
As PAM’s caucus draws near, Grant continues to parade himself as a paragon of virtue, who will be re-elected as the party leader unopposed, despite serious concerns from party supporters and the “Gang of Five” about his leadership flaws.
Allegations of Grant’s thugs and henchmen, threatening and assaulting anyone with a dissenting voice has exposed a power-hungry man, who will remove any “obstacle” in his way of holding on to the reins of power.
It is reported that Roy Angus Fleming, the PAM candidate who ran in Constituency #2 in the last General Elections, was violently assaulted at PAM Headquarters by Grant’s agents. It was also reported that Mr. Fleming made a report to the Police.
It is alleged that Grant and his thugs are using their high-handedness in the constituency branches to hand-pick delegates for the party’s caucus this weekend and excluding the recommendations of the constituency executive (in the 5 constituencies of the disgruntled candidates).
But what does all of this reveal? It exposes a party in shambles and a leader, who is hell-bent on holding on to power, even though his own colleagues have said that “we have strayed too far from the ideology and philosophy of the Founding Fathers of the People’s Action Movement”.
“The election of a new political leader can help to steer the Party back to its roots and make the party’s grassroots’ supporters feel welcomed. We hope that Mr. Grant would do the right thing and step down immediately” (Sunday).
What is your response Mr. Grant?
It cannot be business as usual.
How can you as leader continue to be blind and deaf to the calls for your resignation in light of your failure and serious leadership deficiencies?
