BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MARCH 10TH 2014 (CUOPM) – Deputy Chairman of the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty, had a message for the governing St. Lucia Labour Party at its annual party conference in St. Lucia on Sunday.
Mr. Carty told delegates that having sat as the Deputy Chairman of his Party and in the Cabinet of Ministers for the last nine years, there are three equally important lessons that will help to serve the interest of the St. Lucia Labour Party and St. Lucia.
He listed as lesson #1, the stability of the small, fragile island economies of the region – economies suffering from what is called in St. Lucia the banana effect, or as in the case of St. Kitts and Nevis, the sugar effect – “requires strong, stable, determined leadership over an extended period of time.”
“Overcoming the impact of the global trade system on the banana industry and on other interconnected sectors cannot and will not happen overnight. Your best interest is served by supporting one leader who has the wherewithal to take you through these difficult times. Choosing leadership for your country is not akin to cherry picking. You support your leader because the greater the support your leader has, the more effective he can be in addressing the difficult issues of the day, and the better for St. Lucia and all St. Lucians. That is my unmistakable prayer – that you remain focused and consistent as a driving force behind your leaders of the SLP,” said Minister Carty.
“ There are organisations in your country, as in ours, which once you elect them to office spend all of their time infighting, fighting within their own circles and among their own ranks for personal control over the levers of government so that they could operate them for their personal aggrandizement and that of their close friends and allies. Such organisations must not be allowed to succeed ever again in St. Lucia,” Mr. Carty said.
St. Lucians, Minister Carty told delegates, is undeserving of that kind of government, and those who have been the chief protagonists in these kinds of unfair deals for St. Lucians, must be seen for what they really are and must be defeated at all reasonable cost.
“You elect a government to fight for you, not for or among themselves. That is a waste of your time and an abuse of your trust. St. Lucians saw and understood what was happening, and made an excellent choice of government the last time around in returning the SLP. I congratulate you, St. Lucians. Do not experiment or vacillate or equivocate with your progress and prosperity. Keep on the right path. Stick and stay with your St. Lucia Labour Party,” said Mr. Carty, who brought fraternal greetings on behalf of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
He said full-blooded democracy in the St. Lucia Labour Party is not only desirable, it is an imperative for the SLP and for St. Lucia.
“Governance within your party transcends leadership in government. Full-blooded democracy in your party is characterized by ordinary people in Castries, Gros Islet, Vieux Fort, Micoud, Belle Plaine, Anse La Raye, Belle Vue, La Cour Ville, Soufriere and Choiseul all having a real say in the conduct of affairs of their own Party,” said Minister Carty, who noted that the management of this big conversation is a huge task but it is nonetheless extremely necessary.
“The members of this organisation must not just have, but they must feel, the real liberty to engage in the constructive criticism of their ministers and representatives in an appropriate forum. In every organisation there are always a few people, on one hand, who are not pulling their weight, and one or two people, on the other hand, whose ambitions are so raw and unbridled that they will do anything, even subvert the interest of the Party and Government, to satisfy those ambitions. Such a state of affairs is detrimental to your organisation and country, is highly unacceptable, and must be dealt with delicately but swiftly and constructively,” said Minister Carty.