Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 13, 2007): Initial estimates of approximately eight hundred persons marched from the tamarind tree in Greenlands through the streets of Basseterre and culminated at Bank Street, in the heart of Basseterre as they marched for electoral reform, especially the aspect of finger printing in a march for democracy organized by the Peoples’ Action Movement (PAM).
The march took place on Thursday afternoon, September 13th and featured residents from all across the island who were exercising their right to have free and fair elections with emphasis on “one man, one vote.” They are also of the opinion that the inclusion of finger printing on the Voter Registration card would help facilitate such an objective.
The march was led by the Mr. Lindsay Grant, Leader of the PAM and Party Chairman, Mr. Chesley Hamilton. Even though it was initially said that the march was non political, party passion prevailed and most of those who marched were allegedly supporters of the PAM. The political divide was even more evident as those who participated in the march exchanged “opinions” with onlookers along Church Street, the Administrative Centre of the country.
The chants that reverberated from those who campaigned for electoral reform ranged from “one man, one vote” to “we want finger printing”. Political Leader of the PAM, Lindsay Grant was evidently pleased with the turnout for the march and took his position at the front of the march to rally his supporters. The march has awakened political pundits and many see the march as something that could revolutionize the political landscape in the Federation.
As recently as last week, the Prime Minister of the Federation and the Leader of the ruling Labour Party, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas seemingly indicated that his Party was confident heading into the constitutionally due elections of 2009. The Prime Minister indicated that his Party was not supportive of finger printing. To support such a decision by his Party, he made reference to the repercussions faced by Jamaica in their recent general elections with regards to the same finger printing issue.
~~Adz:Left~~The voter turn out percentage was adversely affected in Jamaica because many felt that the inclusion of finger printing would be an avenue to incriminate them. Contrary to Dr. Douglas’ confidence in his Party heading toward the constitutionally due elections of 2009, many feel that the surprising large turnout in the electoral reform march indicates that the Labour Party is in trouble and there needs to be some dramatic reassurance if it wants to maintain its status as the ruling party.
“From watching the march, Labour is in trouble. I have not been living here long but I could see that people are fed up with the over bearing stances of the Labour Party. When the people speak it is serious and the people are speaking now,” noted a bystander who was observing the march. Another one who claims to be a Labour supporter chimed in and stated that his Party needs to “pull up its socks.”
“They really doing everything possible to turn away supporters and “Dougie” needs to step up for them to regain the people’s favour.
The Peoples’ Action Movement has one seat in the House of Parliament. Following the march through the streets of Basseterre, the PAM and its supporters congregated at Bank Street to engage in a rally. Various representatives from the Party addressed the crowd and spurred them on to keep supporting the “fight for democracy.”
The march was definitely a small victory for the PAM, who has used the march’s turnout as evidence to support their claims that the support base for the Party has significantly increased over recent months.
Musical support for the march was provided by the Burning Flames Band out of Antigua.
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