BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN a continued effort to bring greater awareness to the issues affecting the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Operation Rescue (OR) hosted a Rally last evening (Feb. 1) on Bank Street which was attended by many.
The three-hour Rally saw eight speakers taking to the podium to voice their opinion on some of the major developments in the Federation, mainly in the political arena.
The speakers included Carlton Dupont, Washington Archibald, Richard Caines and Dwyer Astaphan, all of whom are members of OP and who voiced their support of Hon. Timothy Harris and Hon. Sam Condor for speaking out against some of the actions being taken
The topics they spoke on ranged from the Land Swap Bill, the Basseterre High School contamination issue, the Increase in Senators Bill, the Motion of No Confidence, the removal of Harris' and Condor's Ministerial Portfolios, the appointment of the new Attorney-General, the manner in which the Speaker of the National Assembly conducts Parliament and the appointment of the new Governor-General.
Archibald, in his presentation, spoke passionately on the recent political developments, stating that the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas “is not fit to be our Prime Minister”.
Archibald voiced that the Prime Minister, the Speaker of National Assembly and the newly-appointed Governor-General should not hold the positions they have and “they must go”.
He spoke at length about the characters of these dignitaries, including that of the Attorney-General, and stated that the latter three are only in those positions to further the Prime Minister's agenda of dictatorship.
Caines wowed the crowd when he appeared onstage accessorised with a cardboard reading “DOUGLAS CHEATING EE-A-WOK IN ST. KITTS NOT IN NEVIS THANK YOU JUDGES”.
In his presentation, he held a paper which he said had some 64 names of persons who are registered in Constituency Number Four but do not live in there.
He proceeded to read some of the names on the paper to which persons in the crowd shouted “they ain live in four”.
Closing off the rally was the final speaker, Astaphan, who stated that, in his view, the events that took place in Parliament on Tuesday (Jan. 29) ‘were a total disgrace”.
“Everybody in there and outside of there who supported what happened in the House on Tuesday should be ashamed,” he said.
He went on to speak about the Motion of No Confidence, stating that he was told that it was included in the book which contains the Order of Business in Parliament.
“I hope that the legal action that has been started today includes a part that will call the Clerk to produce the book and to show what is in the book, and if the notice is not in the book show cause why it is not in the book,” he voiced.
He said the Prime Minister does not want to table the Motion of No Confidence because he knows it would show that the majority of elected Members do not have confidence in him.
“He knows that the No Confidence Motion will pass, it will succeed, it will get six votes, and it means that after that he will either have to resign in three days or the House will have to be dissolved,” Astaphan said.
Speaking with Astaphan following the event, he stated that the Rally was successful in achieving the movement’s goal which is to bring greater awareness to the people about the issues affecting the Federation, as well as break down political barriers.
Operation Rescue would be hosting another rally on Wednesday (Feb. 6) in Tabernacle.
