BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DR. VANCE GILBERT – floor member of the Executive of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) - has signalled his desire and intention to represent the people of St. Christopher Seven on that party’s ticket.
The Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris is the current Parliamentary Representative for that Constituency and had held that position under the SKNLP since 1993.
Recent gaping rifts between his ideologies and those of the party’s Leader and Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas have led to a chain of events which ended in Harris being fired from his Cabinet.
And according to the Deputy Chairman of the SKNLP – the Hon. Nigel Carty – plans were afoot to replace Harris as the party’s Constituency Number Seven representative.
Dr. Gilbert’s name has been advertised through the streets of the Federation and the social media as Dr. Harris’ replacement.
And in an interview with SKNVibes, Dr. Gilbert explained that while he understands there is a process through which he has to go before being selected as the candidate, he plans on representing the people of St. Christopher Seven.
He said his decision is “based on everything that is going on in the political arena”.
“…specifically as it relates to Number Seven where Dr. Harris is now saying he is going independent and talks about a Unity Government...of course there is a void within the Constituency as it relates to a representative for the Labour Party. And the people have called upon me to fill that void.
“So it is definitely my intention to be the next Labour candidate for Constituency Number Seven so I can continue serving the people and do the best that I can for the area, the people and the country on a whole.”
He explained that one of his first orders of business, should he be selected as the Constituency’s Labour candidate and should he win his seat, is to “try to bridge some of the divide that we have in the present political climate especially. There has been a lot of disunity amongst the people, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration among the people. And even on the community level people are not talking to each other because they support a political party, and things like that.”
Without delving too much into his plans, Dr. Gilbert declared that he intends to tackle this problem by holding talks with “everybody” and attempt to promote “a more inclusive type of politics” as opposed to one where some politicians cater to the needs of only their supporters.
“One of the most important ways to do that is to have dialogue with everybody; to include all in the decision-making process,” he added.
