“Don’t let any politician fool you,” says Astaphan

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FORMER Minister of National Security the Hon. Dwyer Astaphan has issued a plea to the electorate, urging persons to vote responsibly and to avoid emotional manipulation by politicians.

While addressing a media gathering earlier today (June 4), the outgoing Constituency Two Parliamentary Representative expressed his displeasure with current political rhetoric. He called on voters to display intolerance for it and challenged politicians to commit to cleaning up their language.

He had further words of advice for the voting population, particularly as it relates to the conduct of persons aspiring for public office. 

“Do not vote for any party encouraging you to be insulting, abusive or threatening. Don’t vote for any candidate who tells you to start a revolution or to shut down Basseterre. Such a candidate is driven by a lust for power, and power should be the very last thing you give to that person.”

“Do not vote for someone who ducks the hard questions and who is unwilling to take blame and responsibility for their acts and omissions. Do not vote for a party that doesn’t commit to setting term limits for the Prime Minister position. Do not vote for a government that does not commit itself to full transparency and accountability to the public, to fully professionalising the public service, to effecting long overdue constitutional reform and to the safety, security and sustainability of our lands, food production, our economy, our society, the environment and our patrimony,” he warned.

Astaphan also asserted that anyone seeking public office should publish an “honest and full accounting of their financial status” and a sworn declaration of their citizenship status.

The politician stressed that voters had a “wonderful opportunity” to make the upcoming elections “an exercise in analysis and not emotion”. He encouraged them to act cerebrally and to be cognisant of the power they possess. 

“Think with your vote. People have to understand the importance of their own intelligence and their sense of right and wrong. They must drive the politicians, not vice versa,” he declared.