BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Members of Parliament on the Government Benches, the Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris and the Hon. Sam Condor have crystallised their position on the pending Motion of No Confidence, indicating that they would vote in favour should it be tabled.
Since the Motion was forwarded to the Speaker of the National Assembly in early December, much debate has taken place concerning whether or not these men – though at obvious odds with Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas – would vote in favour or against the Motion.
Yesterday (Mar. 5), both men’s position was made publicly clear. They joined with the four elected Members of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in issuing a letter to the Governor-General, Sir Edmund Lawrence, making a call for the Motion to be tabled in Parliament and also indicating to him that they are not in support of Prime Minister Douglas.
“We, the undersigned, and being duly elected Representatives of the National Assembly of the Federation of St. Christopher & Nevis, inform you that it is the firm intention of each and every one of us to vote in favour of this Motion. We represent six (6) of the eleven (11) elected representatives in the National Assembly, the majority, which means that the Motion of No Confidence will pass,” the letter read.
Speaking with this publication, Dr. Harris explained that, specifically for himself and Condor, the letter served to officially declare their stance on the Motion of No Confidence.
“The letter was signed by six members of Parliament and I think it clearly articulates our position. But speaking for myself and Sam, what it does is that, perhaps for the first time in a formal way, it states clearly what is our position with respect to the Motion of No Confidence.
“There has been a lot of public debate and anxiety over the Vote of No Confidence and we are well aware that the country is in a state of political stalemate. We are well aware that we are in a state of crisis and we thought that this uncertainty over the Vote of No Confidence was not going to help.”
Harris further explained that with the six elected Parliamentarians voting for the Motion, and with that figure constituting the majority of elected Parliamentarians, the Motion will succeed.
“We believe that having regard to the real difficulties which the country is facing at this time…that the people need an opportunity to decide what they want for themselves. And we therefore sought to assist in bringing certainty with respect to our position by alerting the Governor-General that, as it stands now, neither Sam nor myself nor any of the other Members of Parliament who have signed that the substance of the Motion of No Confidence is one that we are in tune with and that the Vote of No Confidence was going to succeed because we intended to vote in favour of it.”
And if the Motion succeeds against the government, the Prime Minister – according to Harris – would have no other choice but to either resign or call elections.
Dr. Harris suggested that those who “hold the public trust” must do the honourable thing and “free the country of this instability and uncertainty” by either allowing the Motion to be tabled or call elections and “let the people decide”.
