By Caribbean News Global contributor
BASSETERRE, St Kitts – Political leader of the opposition St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Dr Denzil L Douglas said Wednesday that the SKNLP is “organised, energised and fully mobilised for the election campaign that lies ahead.”
Public meetings by the SKNLP and a recent march demanding that prime minister Dr Timothy Harris dissolve the National Assembly and set the election date. Dr Douglas told reporters and the nation that the people of St Kitts and Nevis are responding to the message of hope, opportunity, and prosperity.
“They are very excited about our NextGen SKN plans and ideas, that will take our country through 2020 and beyond and in this new era,” said Douglas, the former prime minister.
With the three-party coalition already passed the five-year mark, following the February 16, 2015, general election, Dr Douglas said the Timothy Harris-led government “has not produced anything by way of plans and ideas that would enhance the quality of life of our people, stimulate our economy and build on the multiple gains left behind by my former labour administration.”
“Now at this proverbial 12th hour, when the clock has already struck midnight, and when the government has now expired, they are frantically rushing to see which of our ideas that we have publicly announced at the well-attended Reveal event at the Royal St Kitts Hotel, that they can quickly implement,” Dr Douglas said.
He is of the view that the people of St Kitts and Nevis are not impressed with the Harris-led government.
“The people of St Kitts and Nevis have had over five years to assess this government and to judge them based on their dismal performance in delivering on their 2015 manifesto and platform promises,” said Dr Douglas, who pointed out that what the nation is seeing now “is a growing sense of frustration and discontent among our people, who are deeply dissatisfied and disappointed with this administration.”
“They recognise that the rampant corruption, nepotism, and victimisation that is so blatant today is a direct expression of the personality and nature of the present prime minister who has set a bad example and has had a ‘corrupting influence’ on those associated with him,” said Dr Douglas.
Corrupting the electoral machinery ahead of still to be announced general elections continues to be a major concern of the opposition St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
St Kitts – Nevis diaspora support strong, says opposition leader Douglas
“Since the publication of the Register of Voters in January 2020, we have seen that scores of names of many of our nationals living overseas have been objected to from the voters’ list across all constituencies.
“This is spreading confusion and unrest among the electorate. People are very disturbed and outraged by these attempts to gerrymander the boundaries and the voter fraud taking place in the electoral office. We in the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party will not allow prime minister Harris to suppress the democratic will of the people,” said Dr Douglas.
“With the expiration of the Timothy Harris administration on February 16, 2020; the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, its supporters, and well-wishers will continue to agitate and demonstrate in order to send a clear message to prime minister Harris and his colleague cabinet ministers that their time in office has expired and it is time for them to go,” he said.
