BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH rampant calls being made for Messrs. Timothy Harris and Sam Condor to resign their Parliamentary seats, coupled with suggestions that Cabinet member the Hon. Patrice Nisbett also resign, the latter is contending that there is a clear and undeniable distinction between his situation and that of the other two men.
Since Harris and Condor – Parliamentary Representatives for Constituencies Seven and Three respectively – severed ties with the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, calls have been made for both of them to “do the honourable thing” and resign their seats.
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L Douglas said it is unethical for the men to – having now formed their own party (the People’s Labour Party [PLP]) - hold to their seats having benefitted from the strength, financial and other support of the SKNLP.
Others have argued that if this is the case, the Hon. Patrice Nisbett – Deputy Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) - should also resign his Parliamentary seat seeing that he benefitted from the financial and other support of the NRP and subsequently joined forces with the SKNLP-led government.
Addressing the comparison being made between his situation and that of Condor and Harris, Nisbett explained that in his case, he is still loyal to the NRP under which he contested the General Elections and was elected.
“In my case…I came after a General Election and I have always remained a member of the Nevis Reformation Party. I have never abandoned the Nevis Reformation Party! I ran on the NRP ticket and I am still with the Nevis Reformation Party. So to compare my scenario with their scenario, it is clearly not comparable, there is no similarity, totally different set of circumstances. And you can’t paint different set of circumstances with the same brush. All sets of circumstances have to be treated differently and my factual matrix is indeed completely different to their factual matrix…”
Nisbett explained that before he took the decision to form the Labour-NRP coalition government, he consulted with his party and constituents and was given consent to do so.
“I was asked by the Prime Minister in 2010 to join the Federal Cabinet, and after my consultations with the Nevis Reformation Party, my people and the rank and file of the Nevis Reformation Party who gave me their blessings… I became a member of his Cabinet. And after I was called by the Prime Minister, I had reported to duty in the service of my country…
“I am still with the Nevis Reformation Party in a Federal Cabinet that the majority of the members are from the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. And coalitions are all over the world! People join together after General Elections in order to form governments so that the agenda and the development of the country can be continued.”
Nisbett reiterated that unlike Harris and Condor who abandoned or deserted the SKNLP, he is still a card-carrying member of the NRP and remains faithful to its plans, philosophies, programmes and policies.
He said – however – that he understands the stance that the Prime Minister has taken is demanding Condor and Harris’ resignation.
“If I understand the Prime Minister’s argument, the two gentlemen have decided for whatever reason to part company with the Prime Minister and the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. And they have sought to form their own political organisation and some are claiming that this organisation which has never faced the people of the country have two seats in the National Assembly. And what the Prime Minister is simply saying is as a result of how their electoral success was obtained in the last General Elections. And having regard to the fact that they no longer want to be a part of the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party political organisation, it is the principled thing to do in those circumstances to resign the seats and ask for a fresh mandate from the people in those two constituencies.
“Because, as I’ve said, they have abandoned the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party and it is as a result of being on the ticket of the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party they were successful in the election. They didn’t run as independents, they ran as candidates of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and now there has been a change in circumstances. It is the principled thing in those circumstances that if they choose to go on the other side, that one should ask for a fresh mandate from the people in those two circumstances.”
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