Some thirty years ago, on September 19, 1983, Sir Dr. Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds lead the former British colonies of St. Kitts and Nevis into independence. Citizens watched the crowning moment in the Federation’s history as it shook off its colonial shackles to become the new independent jewel of the Eastern Caribbean.
An accomplished politician in his own right, Sir Dr. Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds faced a tumultuous post colonial mission to unite a country and begin a campaign geared at empowering the lives of thousands of citizens once solely dependent on Britain.
As Dr. Simmonds’ leadership ebbed and flowed, over time the political alternative to the PAM government found favor with the people. Suddenly, there was a major shift in the mood of the people, the political climate and subsequently the state of the society. Change would come to the political structure at Church Street and by 1995 the New Labour construct lead by Dr. the Honourable Denzil Llewellyn Douglas claimed its rightful place in parliament. Eighteen years of leadership by the same party with the same Prime Minister transformed an entire nation and seemingly the good that we have accomplished as a nation, has been overshadowed by the not so good.
On Thursday September 26, 2013 on the verdant lawns of Greenlands Park in historical Basseterre, St. Kitts, the Unity torch was set ablaze by a team of eleven political hopefuls who for the first time in the history of the federation’s political independence recognize the call of the people to take the nation on a new dispensation. With throngs of supporters in the backdrop and with the endorsement of the first Prime Minister, the Team Unity got its blessing.
There is no mystery as to the dynamic energy that is at work in the 108 square mile twin island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis! A revolution of hearts, minds and voices has found its place among the citizens of our independent nation. Men and women of varying political ideologies who have faced and overcome countless odds have now raised the bar in politics in the federation and throughout the entire Caribbean region for that matter. This unparalleled thrust for a unified federation is rapidly gaining momentum and it is undeniably clear that there will be no retreat at this juncture. Thousands seem convinced that despite their political differences, the restructuring of our nation requires a coming together of our people as we have never witnessed before.
Sparked by Thursday night’s revelation of a lineup of candidates ready to usher in a new political dispensation in St. Kitts and Nevis and armed with evidence that the current political status quo has woefully failed the people, Team Unity is on a mission to make history by restoring our federation to the heights it was once renowned for.
The political pundits who vehemently insist that the only unified premise on which the eleven-man Unity team stands is their hatred for the Honourable Denzil L. Douglas must now revisit their argument. What the Unity Partners have proposed is that it is not hatred for Denzil Douglas that unites them but rather a love for the federation and a burning desire to collaborate in order to bring relief to regular citizens in light of the moral, social, economic and political decay we have experienced under the one man show “starring Denzil L. Douglas” and his team of “Yea Sayers” who also happen to be part of the pervasive mismanagement of government.
The Unity Partners do not hate Denzil Douglas. Rather they detest the fact that he watched as crime spiraled out of control offering no accountability in stemming the heightened crime wave for years in succession. They oppose his style of leadership that allows him to act unilaterally on many key issues and they insist that term limits must be part of the new political dispensation to help stem such autocratic leadership.
The Unity Partners do not hate Denzil Douglas but they condemn the fact that he strategically paid double salaries to hard working civil servants during an election year only to have them pay it back through a whopping unforeseen 17% VAT tax the following year.
The Partners of Unity do not hate Denzil Douglas, rather they oppose his demands on the people to tighten their spending belts while he spends the public purse like a drunken sailor. They oppose investments such as the La Valle project, punctuated by miles of green fencing yet a deafening silence as to its status and that of various investments that yield maximum returns for the foreign investor while the local entrepreneur is sent packing.
The Unity Partners do not hate the Prime Minister but oppose the fact that he swapped hundreds of acres of prime lands for debt and reached out to citizens to explain the swap after the fact knowing full well the people would have rejected the land/debt swap in the first place.
The Labour stalwarts who now form the Unity partnership do not hate Denzil Douglas but insist that although they tried every avenue to resolve various issues with the distinguished gentleman, they were blatantly undermined time and again!
The Unity Partners do not hate Denzil Douglas but they find that he has wrapped the noose around the neck of the Speaker of the House; a young and blossoming political hopeful who continues to fold at the behest of the Prime Minister yet claims to be in charge of parliament.
They do not hate Denzil Douglas but denounce his ability to almost single-handedly erode democracy by making up rules so not to table the MONC now almost ten months old.
The unifying of these bold political partners comes not out of hate for one of the federation's most popular politicians but out of a reality that resolving some of the wrongs that have occurred under the watch of the Denzil Douglas administration forms part of the campaign for this paradigm shift in our politics.
The partners are opposed to electricity costs that have spiked to astronomical heights as government representatives watch small businesses close their doors one by one. They understand that for years there has been no real attempt to table the integrity in public life until in recent times as the nation is in the dead heat of an election year. Among many things, the Unity partners have seen the need for a set election date, authentic constitutional reform, greater scrutiny of the SIDF, practical employment initiatives and youth and educational reform programs.
The Unity partnership is not about one individual but about individuals working across the political divide to implement systems that engender a commonality; that which is in the best interest of the country. A Unity construct will be aimed at eradicating the practice of half of the country benefiting under a government while the other half waits for rescue from the political wilderness. Unity advocates can NEVER promise a perfect alternative but the partners have promised a shift toward a better political landscape than the one we currently have. The people of the federation will NOT forget their promise.
The Unity partners are duly charged to be mindful that the people of the federation have thrown their support behind them because of their disappointment in this current government. Politicians must know that it is always about the people first and not the politicians. Any government renowned for corruption, nepotism, victimization and such other vices will eventually be rejected by the people.
The congregating of thousands of citizens across the green, well manicured lawns of Greenlands Park signaled the uniting of thousands of people who hold many different political views yet cognizant that one crucial goal entwines us; the desire for a better federation under sound leadership. Ironically, this Unity political effort has intensified at a most symbolic time in our federation as we celebrate thirty years of severing our ties with Mother England. In our post colonial existence, we have had various setbacks as a nation under the banner of two separate political parties, but the Unity partners believe that the impetus sparked by the people in this time demands a unified dispensation.
As the crowds departed and the stage came down, as the music stopped and the lights were turned off, as the pockets of conversations ended, any cloud of doubt in the Unity construct was replaced with a surge of certainty; certainty that the people of the federation will choose wisely. Whenever next the electorate is called upon to exercise their franchise, no matter what the politicians dish out, it is the people who hold the fate of our great nation in their hands.
The journey for Unity continues!
