BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MAY or maybe…? This is the question asked of the elections’ date by hundreds of supporters of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party who turned up last evening (May 1) at a public meeting held at the Bus and Ferry Terminal in Basseterre.
The political meeting, which was preceded by a mini-motorcade showcasing the eight contestants of the Miss Labour Queen Pageant scheduled for tonight at Carnival Village, had many attendees cogitating about a statement made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, the Hon. Sam Condor.
In his address, Minister Condor, who is also the Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Three, told the crowd to “stick with Labour, hold your corner…we gon jam dem again”.
However, the aspect of his address that evoked a moment of celebration and speculation was when he said, “May is the month for Labour, we celebrate Labour Day in May…we gon beat dem in May!”
SKNVibes sought comments from among a number of Labour supporters on their interpretation of this particular statement, and was told that it meant “the bell gon ring in May…elections gon be in May”.
Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris also took to the stage and told his listeners that not only is he confident of retaining his seat, but the Labour Party as a whole.
“Not a damn seat for them…Labour built this country in the last 15 years. We will not give it to them! In times like these the country needs stable heads to take it forward. The next term will be better than the one before.”
He also declared that the Labour Party has done well for the country and “the best is yet to come…the People’s Action Movement’s team is a pick-up team”.
Dr. Harris further stated that the People’s Action Movement has no proper leader and Lindsay Grant has no class. “We bigger than dem, better than dem, smarter than dem…and comes election this year, we gon jam dem”.
As is the custom, Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of the Federation, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas was the last speaker at the meeting.
In his usual dynamic entrance to events of such nature, Douglas motivated the crowd with his opening speech, endorsing what Dr. Harris said of the People’s Action Movement in comparison to the Labour Party’s strength, leadership and ability.
“We bigger than dem, we better than dem, we smarter than dem, but we aint badder than dem, because badness outa style.”
Dr. Douglas urged the gathering to go out on Monday (May 4) and march in solidarity with the employed workers and those who have recently joined the unemployment line. He also urged them to march for law and order as well as against guns, drugs, gangs, violence and crime.
“We will not tolerate this gang thing and gun thing. But we need your support. You must speak to your children; you must know what your children are doing. We cannot afford for your young boys and girls to become drug users and drug pushers by those unscrupulous drug pushers in this country,” Douglas urged.
“We cannot do it alone, the police cannot do it alone, the army cannot do it alone…we need the support of the parents and everyone else,” he added.
He also advised parents to question their children whenever they are seen with things not purchased or given by them, and to demand that they return those items to the person(s) who had given it to them.
The PM also commended his Deputy for handling the recent situation in which the services of some 100 workers were terminated by the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, noting the Labour Government would not tolerate exploitation of workers of the Federation.
He reiterated the purpose of the YES programme and declared that even though it was initially intended to accommodate 500 persons, it now has a total of 800 participants because the government cares for the young people of the Federation.
Dr. Douglas told the gathering that he has a very important announcement to make at the end of the Labour Day March on Monday, which will culminate in a celebration with music by Ronnie Rascal and the Grand Masters Band at the Patsy Allers Playfield.
