There is a 19th century Danish tale about an Emperor who was very pre-occupied with himself and his appearance.
So two of his tailors told him that they would make him a special ‘suit’ consisting of fabric which only persons worthy of high office and other intelligent and competent people would recognize. They convinced him that only the most stupid people would not be able to see the ‘suit’.
The idea appealed to his ego, and excited him greatly. Who cared about the stupid people? And he directed them to make him that special ‘suit’, and one for each of his ministers. They would have to ‘wear’ their ‘suits’ too.
However, the obvious truth was, there was no such fabric. But the Emperor was so self-absorbed that reason, sound priorities and focus had long abandoned him, especially towards the end.
Bright as he was, his self-absorption blinded him to the fact that intelligence or the lack thereof does not determine eyesight or the lack thereof, and to the fact that everybody, bright, not so bright, and “stupid”, would see him in his ‘suit’. He and his ministers.
He was probably blissfully unaware of what was to befall him.
So on the day when the ‘suit’ was completed, the tailors sent him the ‘good’ news and he summoned them to dress him up in his new ‘suit’. And they went along with the charade, and ‘dressed’ him in his ‘suit’.
That done, he proceeded to parade, proud as a peacock, through town in his ‘suit’ and followed dutifully by his similarly ‘dressed’ ministers. Oh, what a sight!
Of course, everybody noticed that he was naked, but because of fear, nobody dared to comment, and nobody dared laugh.
At least, not openly.
However, among the onlookers was an innocent little child, who was, of course, unencumbered by fear. And he shouted: “The Emperor is wearing no clothes!”
With that, the adults of the town, in a liberating, emboldening and defining moment, joined in and they kept repeating: “The Emperor is wearing no clothes. The Emperor is naked.”
On that day, he was exposed and his credibility was destroyed, and likewise for his ministers who followed him.
The two tailors had set him up. They knew that, as smart and ruthless as he was, he would nevertheless be the only person “stupid” enough to fall for their silly ruse. The ministers knew better, but they had to tag along to maintain favour.
But the real cause of the problem was the Emperor himself: his unchecked power, vanity, conceit, self-indulgence, distorted priorities and loss of focus.
History is full of stories of intelligent men who come to power, do stupid things, hurt nations deeply and cause their own downfall in the process.
And such, a story is being played right here in St. Kitts today because the man occupying the post of Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis is like that Emperor. Correction…he is that Emperor.
Heavily self-absorbed, he has lost his reason, his sense of priorities and his focus. He is surrounded by a dwindling but still existing cabal of opportunistic flatterers and spineless sycophants. And he rules, as he has done for the last 16 years, with a heavy and virtually unchecked hand.
And by his own words and deeds over the years, but increasingly so over the past year and a bit, he has become exposed and naked for all to see him for what he is.
He urged you in 1995 to make him your leader, assuring you that Law & Order and Integrity in Public Life would be the first order of business for him. What has he done about either after 16 years in office?
He recently challenged me to name one good thing that I had done while I was Minister of National Security. Of course, I recognize that he is under enormous pressure and he has been trying desperately to distract and deflect attention, and try to find somebody other than himself to blame for things. So he has stepped up his pogrom against me. And in addition to everything else that he has said and done over the years to hurt this nation, his particularly vile efforts against me recently will serve only to cement his downfall, because truth is not on his side.
And he will have to account at the right time and place. No ifs, buts, ands or maybes about that! Likewise for those who choose to peddle for him.
Meanwhile, we in Operation Rescue won’t allow him to dictate our agenda. The pressure that he is under has him trembling with rage and saying and doing all manner of reckless things.
And the pressure from Operation Rescue and from the people will continue. We have applied for permission for two meetings and two marches, and we will be rolling out some other programs shortly.
The Emperor is naked.
Meanwhile, I took a little time on Inside The News on WINN FM last Saturday (check WINN FM’s website) to list some of the things that, as Minister of National Security, I did get done, as well as things that I tried to get done, and things that would have been done were it not for obstructionism.
Things on both the social intervention and the criminal justice sides, comprising a multifaceted approach which won the praises of security chiefs throughout the region and beyond, and which reflected the strategy advocated by all relevant international institutions.
The truth is, when I took on the Ministry of National Security at the end of 2004, I inherited a crisis that was left there largely because, in his nine years before as Minister of National Security, he had done little.
Can he tell the Defence Force people why, between 1997 and 2004, he did not see it convenient for them to receive Risk Pay and why they started getting it only after I became the Minister? And where is the Juvenile Home? How come he does not have the money to ensure that National Security is properly developed? Is the Government too ‘brokes’ to do that, but it can still find $720,000.00 to buy two fancy cars for executive comfort? Does not he know how much that money could have done to help make you and your families safer? Is not National Security the first order of business anymore?
He was dead set against my proposed National Security Development Fund project in which nobody would have picked up a 10% fee out of Government’s money, and every penny thereof would have gone into building out National Security infrastructure, improving conditions for all National Security personnel, putting young people to work and giving them technical and social skills and empowerment on a sustainable basis.
He rejected that, but he embraced the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) out of which that 10% piece goes the Swiss firm for at least five years, thereby depriving the people of St. Kitts & Nevis of an enormous amount of money which could have been used to fight crime and to provide much needed social and economic stability in our troubled country.
The Emperor is naked. And the people are seeing everything.
Now to Integrity in Public Life. It is not hard for people to come up with an explanation for the fact that, after 16 years in power, Denzil still insists that this is not a priority for him.
Naked Emperor!
What about electricity? He fired Halva as Minister before the 2004 elections because of the constant power failures. At that time he said that he was taking over the Ministry and that he would solve the problem. Of course, the move was political.
Today, seven years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, we are still having grave power problems.
I am told that two of the four new generators that he bought last year for some $22 million are yet to be commissioned, that one of the two has an alternator problem and the other has a crank shaft problem.
I am also told that this morning (Saturday 7th May, 2011) there was a crane at the Power Station lifting out the defective crank shaft.
I am talking about new generators!
If Halva was unfit to hold the Ministry seven years ago, was Denzil fit to hold it after him? And is he fit to be leader of this country when, after all of these years, electricity still continues to be a noose around the people’s necks, both in terms of reliability of service and cost?
The answer is no, but while he was willing to sacrifice Halva on the altar of politics, he will take no blame for anything.
He is naked. Exposed for what he is.
And do not talk about the lies.
The sugar industry will close only over my dead body. White Gate will develop the northern part of the island. The Mandarin Hotel will begin construction soon. I am removing the fuel surcharge on electricity. SIDF is a private foundation (Mind you, it belongs to the Government, eh). We will build a new pier at Port Zante in 2010. The name Denzil Douglas appearing on a Lex Consulting cheque was not me; maybe it was my son, as his name is Denzil Douglas too. Etc., etc.
It is reported that he even told a young lady that I used to harass the Cabinet to have her mother thrown out of a Government residence. Then last week he said that I had tried to glamourize marijuana in Cabinet. But that he is for law and order and he had to take a stand.
Some people regard him as the Wikileaks of his own Cabinet. And his leaks have their own twists, eh.
Speaking of taking a stand, what stand does he take when certain people are allowed to bring things through the airport unchecked? What stand is he taking with regard to the fact the citizens of this country do not have free access to Sandy Bank Beach? Or when on a daily basis the building code of this country is breached? Or on things that have been taking place with regard to regular and diplomatic passports?
What stand did he take when the convicted murder godson was taken out of the prison recently to attend a function; or when a high-level official went to the home at New Pond Site of a former officer of the court to thwart and obstruct justice; or when a certain special young man stole a gun out of Government custody and sold it; or when a certain special young man was given the soft treatment after being found with marijuana while other, not-so-special, youths are hit with the full force of the law for the same thing?
My Lord! The Emperor is naked.
Then this past week, he spoke of the “thousands” of people who marched with him on Labour Day, and one of his messengers doctored a picture taken of Urban ‘Massive’ Penny on Labour Day to expose the desperation and the willingness to lie to any extreme in order to get the Emperor’s message across.
Surely, the Emperor is naked.
Some of those same messengers have been maligning and telling all kinds of lies on Sam Condor (and Sam’s wife ‘Jean’), Timothy Harris and other persons.
And now the latest talk is that he is considering a resolution for the Labour Party Conference on Sunday, 15th May, to expel me formally from the Party.
So who does not support him as leader is not worthy of membership in the Labour Party, because he is the Labour Party. With such an outlook, his arrogance, his imperiousness, his self-indulgence, his viciousness and his dictatorial nature are exposed for all to see.
Yes, the Emperor is indeed naked. And the picture is not pretty.
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