BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LINDSAY GRANT was re-elected as Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) on Sunday, June 13, despite concerns about his leadership by five party candidates.
Grant told SKNVibes he was thankful for the opportunity to continue serving as party leader, saying it was a sign of the membership’s “trust and confidence” in him.
“The fact that I ran unopposed was a sign of the overwhelming support I have from the rank-and-file to lead the party. In my presentation as political leader, I addressed the letter sent to me by the five candidates point-by-point.
“I am confident the rank-and-file understood my position, and I believe the matter was resolved unequivocally and satisfactorily.”
In an April letter to Party Chairman Sydney Osbourne, the PAM candidates for Constituencies One, Two, Three, Six and Seven called for Grant’s immediate resignation. They accused him of making several blunders that had hurt the party, and said a new political leader was necessary for PAM to reclaim its integrity.
Grant noted that while he respected their right to have a difference of opinion, the candidates used an erroneous approach in handling the situation.
“We all have our differences, but they never told me about their problems prior to the letter. They brought a lot of negative attention and caused tremendous damage to the party. It was an error of judgment to proceed the way they did,” he explained.
Grant said that as far as he was aware, only one of the candidates (Ronald ‘Louie’ Williams) attended the delegates’ convention, and praised him for putting the party first.
He revealed that the constituents of One and Three had hinted at their readiness to elect new candidates, and though no official letter had been sent, a change was possibly in the making.
Meanwhile, the annual caucus saw the re-election of Shawn Richards and Eugene Hamilton as Grant’s Deputy Leaders, while Osbourne and Wallis Wilkin retained their positions as Chairman and PRO, respectively.
Dr. Charles Warner emerged as the new Deputy Chairman and Terrelah Byron was voted in as Assistant General-Secretary. Rupert Earle filled the treasurer position.
The posts of General-Secretary and Financial Comptroller will be appointed at a later date by Grant.
The PAM leader disclosed that close to 200 persons attended Sunday’s convention, making it one of the largest events in the party’s history.
He said the atmosphere was “electric”, with the discussion centering on internal issues, crime, electoral reform and value-added tax.
