BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH recent events unveiling discord among Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Denzil L Douglas and some of his Cabinet colleagues, the latter are being advised and encouraged to mount a challenge against him for the position he holds as political leader of St. Kitts-Nevis.
The call was made by Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald, social activist, educator and historian, while speaking during an exclusive interview with SKNVibes.
Archibald named the embattled ministers as senior Cabinet members the Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris and Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Sam Condor. He also named Minister of Sports, the Hon. Glen Phillip as one of the Cabinet Ministers who is at odds with the Prime Minister.
He described as “a spectacle” that which had unfolded before the eyes of the people of St. Christopher and Nevis with regard to the ongoing process of establishing a consulate in Dubai.
Archibald said it is obvious that Dr. Douglas has a problem, which he diagnosed as gross misunderstanding of his function as Prime Minister.
“It is a very open spectacle to look at. It is a terrible spectacle to behold…a Prime Minister struggling day after day fighting down his senior Cabinet Ministers. Obviously, he thinks they are a threat to his survival as Prime Minister. I think Dr. Douglas has the idea that all of the ministries belong to him and he appoints ministers just to oversee them and he appoints permanent secretaries to run the ministries and to report directly to him. That seems to be the practice of Dr. Douglas.
“What he does – in my view and in my own experience – is to plant permanent secretaries in different ministries and he has personal conversations with these permanent secretaries above the heads of his Ministers.”
Recalling an experience he had while heading Project Strong, Archibald explained that he was approached by the then Permanent Secretary of Education – Osmond Perry - and told that he was ordered by PM Douglas to take control of the learning institution.
“So I asked him what about the Minister? What did the Minister tell you? Because the Prime Minister ordered Petty to take it over and to run it directly but he didn’t tell Mr. Condor – who was the Minister – anything about that. And this seems to have been the problem throughout the administration of Dr. Douglas, that he would be talking to permanent secretaries about the various ministries over and above the head and unknowing to the ministers who were supposed to have been sworn in by the Governor General to run these ministries. And Mr. Condor and he got into blows because of that…Timothy had the same problem. The same thing happened with Mr. Phillip…”
The seasoned educator told this publication that Dr. Douglas behaves as if he is one who holds absolute power.
“Dr. Douglas has the wrong idea of the powers of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is not a President, he is not a king. The Prime Minister is serving under the Queen and the Queen is represented by the Governor General. So the Prime Minister doesn’t have extraordinary or absolute authority over his Ministers. He and his Ministers are supposed to be colleagues who sit in a Cabinet. He is not supposed to go out and do things on his own. The Prime Minister does not have that authority to do things on his own. He should only do things in collaboration with his Ministers and with their support.”
Archibald suggested two possible solutions to this quandary - the displeased Ministers should either resign from Cabinet peaceably or challenge Dr. Douglas’ right to sit as Prime Minister. And although he posed two possible solutions, he said the latter is the better.
“We believe that in the situation we have before us, these two Ministers or maybe three, they have a duty to the public to either challenge the Prime Minister if they don’t like the way he handles the affairs of the country…or if they feel affronted by his insults and his efforts to embarrass them, they should either resign quietly or they should challenge, challenge his right to be Prime Minister. Ask for the job. Make a pitch for the job as Prime Minister, because they have the authority to do it under the law. Under the law, any Cabinet Minister can challenge the Prime Minister and if the Prime Minister loses the challenge, he is no longer Prime Minister.
“I believe very sincerely that this is what should happen with these two Ministers. I don’t believe they should resign, because they are successful Ministers. They are far more successful Ministers than the Prime Minister himself has been. The Prime Minister has been a dismal failure in all the portfolios which he has held. He has corrupted them, he has failed them…and I believe that each of these Ministers, any of them, either of them should launch a challenge to the Prime Minister…”
Archibald elucidated that the situation which Kittitians and Nevisians face is that the country is “divided against itself”, in that the Prime Minister and some of his Cabinet colleagues are at loggerheads.
“It is not good for our country. This situation should be righted one way or the next; either the Minister(s) resign from them post(s), which they don’t seem to want to do, or they should challenge the Prime Minister!”
