BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DELEGATES at the 79th Annual St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Conference were urged by the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica and Leader of the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP), Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, to stand tall and defend the Labour Party’s leadership.
“Labour Party supporters must stand tall and defend your party in their leadership at all times,” he said.
PM Skerrit told the delegates that they must have hands-on information to defend the Labour Party as there may be persons who wish to destroy them, and those persons must be avoided.
“My question to you is, do you have destructors in St. Kitts? If you do, you should avoid them and their programmes like a plague. You cannot listen to the opposition programmes and not listen to the government’s programmes. You have to arm yourself with information to defend you party and your leader at all times,” he said.
Skerrit noted that while he supports the right to free speech, there are a number of talk show hosts whose only agenda is to bring down the SKNLP.
“I want to declare that I am a firm defender of freedom of speech as provided in our respective constitutions. I also believe in the principle of press freedom...a person is entitled to his character and his integrity. Unfortunately, there are some talk show hosts who are really political protagonist in disguise. Their sole purpose is to discredit every act and every policy of the government, and to call doom and gloom on the country and its leadership. They are clever at sowing seeds of discord and creating doubt in even some of our strongest party supporters,” he stressed.
The Dominican Political Leader told the representatives of the SKNLP that some of the members and supporters of their party have not yet fully grasped the challenging demands of carrying a ministerial position and, at the same time, being available to constituents around the clock.
He appealed to the representatives to reflect on how they re-engineer the SKNLP so that it remains strong on the ground while the government makes strides in delivering on the promises made in its manifesto and implementing the provisions in its annual budget.
“You have just begun the first stage of a second three-term assignment. The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party is today the natural party of choice in this country. None must do or say anything to cause the electorates to question or reconsider the confidence they have reposed in you for a whopping four consecutive terms,” he added.
While bidding success to the party, Skerrit pleaded with the supporters to stand proud with their party of choice.
“You have to continue to support this party; you have to continue to defend the party wherever you are. You have to be proud of the achievements of Labour in St. Kitts and Nevis over the last 15 years. You have a team of leaders, you have leadership that you can trust, you have a leader you can feel confident in...Stay the cost.
“I wish you every success. I want to extend again my fraternal friendship to the leadership of the party, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, and to say that the people of Dominica stand fully in solidarity with you here in this twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said.
