BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WHETHER or not they have confidence in the Dr. Denzil Douglas-led administration, motorists have been afforded another mode of expressing their views via the creation and distribution of bumper stickers.
Members of the public may have realised that over the past of weeks a plethora of these “confidence”-themed bumper stickers have been circulating across the island and are being sported on vehicles.
It has gotten to the point where it is virtually impossible for an individual – on any given day – to see vehicles without at least one having one or more of these bumper stickers affixed to it.
The stickers carry two messages: one – which is set on white material with red text - declares “I have confidence!” and the other – also set on white paper but with black lettering states “No confidence”.
Lawyer Chesley Hamilton – political activist and former candidate for the People’s Action Movement (PAM) – said the “No Confidence” bumper sticker idea was his brainchild which was birthed following the filing of the Motion of No Confidence by members of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in the Federal Parliament.
“The stickers are saying that we have no confidence in the present administration and these have been out since after the Motion of No Confidence. The idea came to me that we should have something indicating that we have no confidence in the administration; something making sure that it stays in the minds of the people that the Motion of No Confidence has been tabled over 100 days now. I decided to do some bumper stickers and circulate them and I had some 5 000 of them circulated.”
Hamilton also expressed the view that the ‘I have confidence’ programme is retort to his initiative and is being run by the government.
“It is basically a reaction to our initiative. The government is a reactionary government. They are not reactive in anything in terms of problems or even promoting their own agenda. It is a lame-duck government…”
Conversely, those who have confidence in the government led by Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas have the option of sporting ‘I have Confidence!’ bumper stickers on their vehicles.
SKNVibes has had some difficulty ascertaining who was responsible for that particular campaign. However, when contacted, Deputy Chairman of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, the Hon. Nigel Carty, explained that he does not know who is responsible but suggested that it could be members of the public who have taken the initiative to express confidence in the government.
Asked if the ‘I have Confidence’ programme might have been in response to the ‘No Confidence’ programme, the Deputy Chairman responded, “I suppose that is part of it… people want to demonstrate that they are in support of the government inspite of the No Confidence Motion which has been filed”.
Though not an audible projection, these stickers provide a loud and clear expression of the motorists support for or no confidence in the government.
