BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MERE hours after a seemingly symbolic gesture (handshake) of burying the hatchet at a march and rally against crime and violence, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas has verbally assaulted and threatened Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Lindsay Grant.
The Political Leader of the St. Kitts Labour Party made the antagonistic comments at a public meeting in Old Road Village on Thursday night (Apr. 2). In addressing the sizable turnout of party supporters, Douglas threatened to attack and severely injure Grant, even going so far as to explicitly describe what he would do to his political opponent.
“Boy he gon get so much licks in he backside, you hear! So much blows, I gon can’t find where on the body to blows him! I gon can’t even find place on he body to blows him! Left, right, uppercut, punch! Uppercut, punch! Uppercut, punch!”
Douglas also attacked Grant’s character, repeatedly calling him “a fraud”, “arrogant” and “grudging”. He accused him of plotting to fire 500 civil servants should PAM win the elections, and said that a PAM victory would be a return to petty politics and victimisation of the masses.
The aggressive rhetoric was in sharp contrast to the scene of a few hours earlier, when Douglas shook hands with Grant at a rally in the Warner Park Stadium as a sign of solidarity against crime and violence. The hundreds of Kittitians and Nevisians present had eagerly welcomed the move and even demanded an encore from the two political leaders.
In his presentation to the crowd, Douglas had urged the nation to lay aside whatever petty differences they may have to fight together against crime. He called on adults to bear more personal responsibility for their actions, noting that children would mimic the deviant and irresponsible behaviour they saw adults perpetuating.
SKNVibes contacted PAM Deputy Leader the Hon. Shawn Richards, who labelled Douglas’ comments “irresponsible” and “typical of the Jekyll and Hyde behaviour persons have begun to expect from the Prime Minister”.
“This is the same PM who said the sugar industry would close over his dead body, only to close it months later. This is the same PM who called for an end to violence, yet said he has incited already and can incite again. This is the same PM who has asked our young people to behave themselves, but who has said he “bad from he born” and he is “10 man in one”. This is the same PM who, after the last double murder, was seen on television giggling while parents were at home mourning.
“In our present climate, he has to be extremely careful with his words. He himself said at the march that children are impressionable and you have to be careful what you say in front of them. Just yesterday a 10-year-old had killed a 14-year-old in Cayon. Is this among the responses we want from the impressions we make on our children? The fact that he would say that, and then go and make those irresponsible statements in Old Road, shows he is not sincere when he speaks about crime,” Richards said.
Yesterday (Apr. 3), the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis recorded its ninth homicide for the year. Bejay Dore of Warner Street, Cayon was stabbed in the neck by a 10-year-old, with whom he had an altercation over a ball in Maynard’s Park.
It is reported that he ran from the area where the incident occurred and succumbed to his injuries in the yard of his home.
SKNVibes contacted the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary, Erasmus Williams, for a comment on the situation with Dr. Douglas and Grant, but was told that none was forthcoming.
