BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ONCE again the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s Public Meetings have proven to attract many supporters who seem to be in favour of what the speakers would say concerning the government’s development programmes and issues that are currently affecting the smooth running of the party.
Thursday night’s (April. 11) ‘Full Confidence’ Meeting was held in Mansion near a community shop in the vicinity of the Estridge Moravian Church, and despite the rain, the turnout was tremendous as the atmosphere was filled with a mixture of grilled chicken and boisterous supporters whose energetic flow was driven by the presentations of the speakers and music with lyrics suitable to every comment they made.
Both the old and young came out in their numbers and almost everyone wore red clothing; red being the affiliated colour of the Labour Party.
Some individuals sported shirts which read ‘I HAVE CONFIDENCE’.
‘Confidence’ stickers were distributed to members of the audience and some placed them on their clothing.
Noticeably, printed flyers with the ‘Hog’ theme showing a pig in a necklace were also handed out.
Deputy Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Two, Dr. Earl Asim Martin chaired the meeting.
Other speakers that night in order of appearance were former Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Eight, Cedric Liburd; Senator Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt; Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Four, Glenn ‘Ghost’ Phillip; Senator Nigel Carty; Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Two, Marcella Liburd; and the Party’s grooming candidate for Constituency Seven, Dr. Vance Gilbert.
The meeting began shortly after 8:00 p.m. and prematurely ended shortly before 12:00 midnight due to a heavy downpour of rain, much to the disappointment of many, as the Labour Party’s Leader, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas was unable to make his presentation.
And although many were willing to brave the weather, Martin informed that PM Douglas was putting off his part until the other meeting slated for tonight (Apr. 14).
A stuffed alligator adorned with two messages saying “A HOG DEY BE…” written in red on pieces of cardboard was the humourous highlight of the meeting.
The toy reptile was dressed in yellow clothing, a pair of dangling earrings with a carrot and corn cob taped in its mouth.
“Dat de no hog…dat dey a alligator”, said one young female to a woman who walked about with the animal on her back.
“She say she rearing a special type of animal over there”, said a member of the audience to a woman who was standing near the stage.
“Wha dat dere name”, Dr. Martin asked, and the crowd responded, “Hog!”
As usual, popular DJ Ronnie Rascal musically hyped punch lines and statements made by the platform presenters by playing fitting tunes which saw many in the audience rocking to a variety of musical selections, including Reggae, Dancehall, Soca and Calypso.
His playlist included ‘Something’s Happening’ by Red Plastic Bag, ‘Harder They Come’ by Jimmy Cliff, ‘Who The Cap Fit’ by Bob Marley, ‘Know Wha We Doing’ and ‘Oxygen’ by Nu Vybes Band, and ‘By De Breath’ by King Konris.
During his interaction with the crowd, at one point Dr. Martin was heard saying, “Labour good tonight! Labour sweet tonight! You enjoying Labour? Labour Sweet tonight!”
He also belted out “Labour is good” to which the crowd responded with “All de time”.
While speaking to his comrades, Dr. Martin claimed that he had received emails, texts, Blackberry Messenger and Watsapp from Labour Party supporters overseas.
“A getting all kinda ting from North America. He said Labour Party that was being held in the Bronx for Labour because they know Labour going win again,” Dr. Martin told the crowd.
“Me friends in North America say to tell de Labour goodnight! Give the people in North America a round of applause,” he added.
The supporters were also asked to clap in appreciation to other people who had tuned in to the live Internet-broadcast meeting - via both video and audio - in other countries such as Canada, London, Santo Domingo and Dubai.
During Phillip’s presentation, he talked about economic success in the economy and stressed on the surplus of over $66M the government had achieved.
“Da mean we could get a raise”, shouted one woman standing in the front section of the crowd closely flowing the surplus statement.
Uprising national artiste Rolhensha ‘Rolhy’ Henry, a constituent of St. Christopher Seven, did a song in celebration of the passing of the 2013 Budget. That song was the popular ‘I See Money Coming’, which was an instantaneous hit among the audience.
