BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LEADER of the Opposition the Hon. Mark Brantley advised that he had called upon the Commissioner of Police to intervene in a situation where Prime Minister Denzil Douglas is promoting violence.
Brantley referred to comments made by PM Douglas during Tuesday’s (Dec. 11) edition of his weekly radio programme “Ask the Prime Minister”.
During that particular programme, Dr. Douglas expressed, “Your government that you have elected must not be passed on to PAM and to people in the Opposition. Some kind of coalition – we are told – is to be created. Your government must remain the government of Labour because it is that party that went to the polls and secured the majority for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. Let the blood of Labour remain only on the hands of Mark Brantley, not on true Labourites who have toiled so long and hard to build this country and secure this government for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. It must not happen.”
Speaking with this publication, the Opposition Leader described Dr. Douglas’ comments as “alarming”, “unfortunate” and evidence of his desperation.
“I think the Prime Minister’s comments are alarming and most unfortunate and demonstrate that he is now desperate. This is raw desperation on his part. The prevailing environment that we have I think it is clearly alarming that he would make comments about the blood of Labour being on anybody’s hands.
“We are involved in a democratic and constitutional process. He very well knows that to present a Motion of No Confidence in enshrined in the Constitution, Section 52, and the Prime Minister knows that. So for the Prime Minister to resort to such rhetoric and then to attack me as if somehow I am the cause of his misfortune, I think it is truly unfortunate.”
Brantley expressed to SKNVibes that Dr. Douglas ought not resort to casting blame on others for “his own demise”, especially since “he, in every sense, is the architect” of it.
“Because of his sense that he is all powerful – having for years abused and cursed up and treated the Opposition with scant regard – he has now focussed on his own Cabinet with the same type of attitude. He must now understand that people would put up so long, but it gets to a breaking point. And his own Cabinet colleagues are now saying, clearly saying publicly, that they no longer support him. It would seem to me that that ought to be his concern and I do not know why he is seeking to make this a matter between him and me, because I am merely doing what the Constitution permits me to do.”
The Deputy Leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement was adamant that he would not accept blame for the state of the country.
This publication has been advised by Brantley that he has “forwarded (the comments) to the Commissioner of Police and I have asked for his intervention…I take them very seriously. I think that they are a call to violence, but I will not sit back and be cowed by Prime Minister Douglas. He must understand that we all have the people’s work to do and that is what I am doing”.
