BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is being accused of allowing envy, jealousy and ego to create and widen the rift that exists between himself and his Deputy Sam Condor and former Minister Dr. Timothy Harris.
The charge is being levelled by Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald – local historian, social commentator and educator – who expressed his view that over the past years deep-seated envy, on Dr. Douglas’ part, has led to festering of jealousy of these two men.
“The problem between Sam and Timothy and Dr. Douglas is one of envy, jealousy and ego. It is egotistical. There is nothing that Sam or Tim has done contrary to the rules; there is no malfeasance on the part of any of them that Douglas could point to, to say that these people have done wrong and therefore I am displeased with them.”
With reference to Harris, Archibald said he is aware of a specific situation where Dr. Douglas was displeased with Harris’ time of play in the limelight, which was significantly more than his.
“I am accusing the Prime Minister of envy of these two gentlemen because they happen to be more popular than him. I have evidence! There is a time when Timothy Harris used to be on the radio and on the paper with his picture. Everything he did, he used to highlight it. And there is an instance where Erasmus Williams complained to the media that Timothy was getting more coverage than the Prime Minister. I am saying that…and I stand by it.”
And concerning Deputy Prime Minister Condor, Archibald recalls an incident which he claimed transpired following the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP)’s victory at the polls.
“There is also the case when in the 1995 election, Sam Condor was a member of the House before Douglas but he made way for him. He was willing to make way for Douglas to become Prime Minister. Sam was that kind of person.
“But Douglas never trusted Sam. And on the morning of the election when Labour won the election in 1995, Douglas could not find Sam Condor. Sam was somewhere sleeping because of the tiredness of the night of the election. Douglas went into a tantrum because since he could not find Sam and he knew that Sam and the Governor-General were close friends, he openly accused Sam - without knowing what he was saying - of having gone to the Governor-General to get sworn in as Prime Minister. So, that there was this deep distrust between Sam and the Prime Minister which Sam had nothing to do with.
“It was the gut envy and jealousy and evil of Dr. Douglas that he saw men, he saw shadows, he saw threat where none was coming from. And all through the years, the more he continued being in office, the more he felt that his office was being threatened.”
Archibald suggested that Prime Minister Douglas is somehow threatened by Harris.
“The reason why he is against Timothy Harris is because he feels that Timothy is a threat to him and he is in the office long and people are beginning to question the length of time that he is in office and the lack of a succession plan…”
The rumoured rift became more and more evident following a string of incidents which began taking place, including Condor being stripped of responsibility for the Ministry of National Security and Condor and Harris’ opposition of two specific government-forwarded bills.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE: The statements in this article by Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald were made the day before Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas announced that Dr. Timothy Harris was stripped of his ministerial portfolios.
