BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER in the Federal Government, the Hon. Sam T. Condor could be next to be axed by Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, according to social commentator Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald.
Archibald’s explanation to SKNVibes is that with former Senior Minister Dr. Timothy Harris being axed from the government on January 25, 2013 and with both he and Condor posing strong opposition to government-sponsored bills forwarded to the Federal Parliament, it seems logical that Prime Minister Douglas would also axe Condor.
“Nobody is going to be surprised if Condor is fired. As a matter of fact, if I were Mr. Condor I wouldn’t wait for the Prime Minister to fire me, I would resign in solidarity and in protest against the firing of Dr. Harris. And in solidarity with him (Harris), I would start to campaign for a unity government. Condor’s firing didn’t happen because it suited Dr. Douglas to get rid of one of them to make room for the Attorney-General. And I suppose he expects Condor to resign.”
According to Archibald, the Senators Increase Bill – which was passed into law only yesterday (Jan. 29) – was designed to muzzle both Condor and Harris. And he feels that now that it has been passed, Condor’s neck is, even more so, on the chopping block.
“Both of these men have been in opposition to Dr. Douglas. Both of them have refused to support the sale of our land to foreigners. Both of them are seeing down the road that eventually it would cause serious social problems, and so they have declined to support any transfer of land from Kittitians to foreigners. Both of them had indicated that they won’t be supporting it.
“Unfortunately, they did not vote against it, they just absented themselves from the vote. But he is still upset with them, so he decided to increase the number of Senators so that he can replace these two men in the Cabinet and outvote them, give them no voice, remove them from office…He wants to get rid of them because they objected to the way in which he decided to just sell our land just like that. It’s not only that, they have had problems with Dr. Douglas in Cabinet for years.”
Not everyone agrees with Archibald’s viewpoint, and persons with whom this publication have spoken suggested that Dr. Douglas could not – under any circumstance – oust Condor because, if he does, he would no longer control the majority of elected Parliamentary Representatives.
