BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MEMBERS of the recently-formed Operation Rescue are calling on citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to join them in a peaceful march on Friday (Apr. 15) to protest against a number of issues, including the resignation of Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas.
The call was made Friday (Apr. 8) during a meeting held on Bank Street, Basseterre by the members of Operation Rescue, headed by the former Labour government minister Dwyer Astaphan and former People’s Action Movement (PAM) minister Richard Caines.
According to Astaphan, the Bank Street meeting, which attracted a large cross section of residents, was aimed at sensitising them about the grave issues and challenges with which they are faced.
“The meeting is part of a series that Operation Rescue is having to sensitise the people of the grave issues and challenges which we face, and most of them revolve around the bad leadership of the Prime Minister over the years.
“These issues include deception and poor priorities which are not good enough. The people need proper leadership and the Labour Party needs good leadership. This is not a campaign against the Labour Party; this is not a party political effort; this is a people’s effort and people are responding. People understand what is going on!
“We have people at this meeting who are strong Labour supporters and strong PAM supporters; and one of the good things about this meeting is that it is bringing together people from different political persuasions to understand the common call and to have decorous and dignified exchanges, which is what we supposed to be doing. Therefore, it is having a good effect,” Astaphan said.
In addition to Astaphan, presentations at the meeting were made by Forest Collins, Washington Archibald and Caines, who told the gathering that Dr. Douglas is afraid to appoint someone to act as Prime Minister whenever he leaves the Federation.
Caines also told the gathering that the government has violated the Constitution by not providing an office for the Leader of the Opposition, and that he intends to speak to the Hon. Mark Brantley on this issue.
He also accused Dr. Douglas of receiving monies from Lex Consultancy LLC, including a large amount of US dollars to pay the London-based Strategic Communication Laboratories for hiring a man to set up Lindsay Grant “in his room at the Marriott Hotel”.
Caines said he has records of a number of financial transactions that Lex Consultancy LLC made with a local bank, including “US$195 000 to a man or woman named Sylvester Anthony”, and that he was going to divulge much more on Friday (Apr. 15) at a rally in Independence Square following the march.
All speakers at the meeting were urging people to come out the march which they dubbed “The Freedom March”.
“Our peaceful and purposeful Freedom March is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 15, 2011, starting at West Independence Square. Our country needs us now, more than ever before, whether we are Labour, PAM, NRP, CCM or not aligned to any particular political party” Astaphan said.
He called on individuals, employers and the self-employed, as well as the church and other social organisations to be involved with the march.
“We must not be afraid to gather, stand and speak out in our own cause and in the cause of our nation, freed from partisanship or patronage. Indeed, it is our responsibility to do so. If we are to be afraid of anything, it must be the consequences of not taking a stand,” Astaphan said.
He asked employers to allow their workers who wish to participate to leave work at 3:00 p.m. and also to pay them for the time left on their shifts.
“Employers are also asked to make this and other sacrifices, and to make their own presence felt in these events, as they too are enduring undue and unfair suffering,” he added.
Astaphan advised would be participants do not wear any political colours and to prepare your own placards, which must be worded in good taste, and to be on their best behaviour, “as we take these steps together, hand in hand, lovingly, respectfully, elegantly and resolutely in the cause of democracy, good governance and fiscal and social stability”.
He also appealed to the people of Nevis, noting that the Freedom March does not exclude their presence.
“You are called upon to be part of history as we happily and peacefully rediscover our strength as a people. Remember, democracy and good governance never hand themselves on a platter to us. We have to work hard to get them, and work harder to preserve them,” Astaphan said.
