BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the people of Nevis still oblivious to the date of the upcoming election, contesting parties, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), have indicated that they are readying themselves for the eventuality and are currently in full election mode.
And constituents are waiting with baited breath to find out if they would have to endure an island-wide election or a by-election to fill the St. John’s seat.
That seat fell vacant following the court’s ruling which nullified former Deputy Premier Hensley Daniel’s election to office; resulting in both the CCM and the NRP having two seats each.
While some are of the view that Premier Joseph Parry should make haste and ring the election bell, others have suggested that the Governor General should act within his deliberate judgment dissolving parliament and set an election date.
In the meantime, SKNVibes spoke to representatives of both parties, who indicated that while they have no clue when the elections would be called and whether it would be an island-wide or by-election, they are preparing themselves to do battle at the polls.
CCM’s Deputy Leader Mark Brantley, who would be contesting the St. John’s Constituency, told this publication that the party is engaged in full-scale preparatory activities; two of which are a town hall meeting to be held tomorrow at the Red Cross Building and a political meeting on Saturday (Oct. 6).
“We are in full election mode. We expect – under the Constitution – a by-election within 90 days and we have been campaigning. We have been doing our house-to-house canvassing…we have been doing our public campaign. As a matter of fact, we were in Brown Hill recently and also in Cox. So we are making our rounds and having our public meetings and we continue to get our message out.”
Daniel – Brantley’s opponent –said his party is also gearing up for the elections.
“We have been having political meetings. We’ve already had meetings in Brown Hill, Church Ground, Ramsbury, Cotton Ground and Bath. We operate on all fronts, campaigning, doing our house-to-house visits, public visits and dialoguing with all the relevant units of the party. We have had a General Council Meeting and meeting of the Constituency Groups, so we are doing the groundwork.”
The NRP Deputy Leader said he is confident that his performance during his terms in office and his constituents’ confidence in him would spell victory for him.
“The people in the constituency will make that determination. They did it twice already! I am extremely confident because we are running on performance and achievement.”
He said the margin of victory for that constituency is small, but reiterated his confidence of being elected to office.
Asked if he has any idea about when the election bell would be rung, Daniel declared, “No. That is in the hands of the skipper.”
