BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 1ST 2013 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is predicting a fifth-term victory for his governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party whenever the election is called.
“We will win the next elections because there is no match for the popularity of the Labour government and because of the achievements in the last 17 years,” Dr. Douglas told journalists at a press conference in Toronto, Canada, recently prior to meeting with nationals.
The story is printed in Share, Canada’s largest ethnic newspaper.
“In the next elections, we will bring the people of St. Kitts and Nevis a slate of new candidates along with a few experienced ones like me. I want this election to come quickly because I feel that it’s time for Denzil Douglas to begin to think about retiring,” the Prime Minister and National Political Leader of the Labour Party said.
Douglas has been under fire recently following the dismissal last January of senior Minister Dr. Timothy Harris and the resignation two days later of Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor.
Harris, the party’s chair, was dismissed for opposing government-sponsored legislation while Condor cited “issues with good governance and constitutional integrity” as his reasons for stepping down.
Douglas said he did not plan to run in the next elections.
“I was planning to exit and hoping there would be a smooth transition, but because of the defections, the party has asked me to take it through another election,” he said.
The PM noted that Condor and Harris’ departure could not have come at a worse time.
“That has been a distraction of some concern because it came at a time when St. Kitts and Nevis was really attempting to resolve a lot of the financial and economic challenges that we are facing,” said Douglas.
“It became a distraction because it was at a time when we were about to go to parliament with the 2013 budget that would have showed for the first time after several years a surplus. Democracy is however alive and well in St. Kitts and Nevis and so although we treated the motion of no confidence with a certain amount of polarity and knowing it had to come before the parliament, we also have been guided by our constitution and the rules of the House that says government business takes precedence over private matters.”
Prime Minister Douglas stopped over in Toronto on his way to the third International HIV Treatment as Prevention Workshop in Vancouver. He is the regional spokesperson on HIV/AIDS and other health matters.
Senior government Minister Hon. Marcella Liburd and medical practitioner Dr. Vance Gilbert accompanied Douglas to Canada.