Press Release
June 6, 2018
Fellow citizens and Residents of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) is compelled to add its voice to those in the local, regional and international community in their collective condemnation of allegations of bribery directed at Prime Minister, the Hon. Timothy Harris. These allegations are very serious and cannot be overlooked, diminished or swept quietly away. Notwithstanding the real potential of criminal prosecution by the UK Government of Prime Minister Harris, the immediate problem posed to our fragile and fledgling democracy is his apparent flagrant violation of the peoples’ trust and the desecration of ethical rules of engagement in high office. In the circumstances therefore, The NRP also calls for the immediate and unconditional resignation of Prime Minister Harris.
Acting the role of a celebrity Prime Minister, Dr. Harris rather than addressing the country with sobriety and in a manner befitting the importance of the office he holds, chose a platform that sought not only to rally his core constituency but strategically preempted any possibility of him telling the truth. Invariably, we in the NRP and those on Nevis who support the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) were shocked and deeply disappointed by the extraordinarily explicit support that Dr. Harris received from our former Premier, the Hon. Vance Amory. His presence at the Town Hall event is indefensible and left an indelible stain on the already frayed moral and ethical fiber of Nevis.
As anticipated, Dr. Harris unequivocally expressed his determination to resist the chorus of calls by the SKN Labour Party, members of civil society and allegedly by a faction of his own government to resign. It is our considered view that this sordid episode can and must be brought to a swift conclusion by the total withdrawal of CCM from the Team Unity Government (TUG). We therefore call on Premier and Party Leader of the CCM, the Hon. Mark Brantley to withdraw his party’s support for Prime Minister Harris. In so doing he will demonstrate that no person is above the law and that his outspoken commitment to integrity and ethics as fundamental principles of good governance are backed up by deliberate action. To do otherwise would not only signal his and his party’s collusion to keep Prime Minister Harris in office, but simultaneously render our nation’s motto “Country Above Self” meaningless.
Never in our modern history have the eyes of the world had occasion to examine us through this dark prism of corruption as they do now. The damage to our country’s reputation must be quickly healed, the confidence in our legislative and other institutions of state must be restored and our peoples must once again be allowed to confront the future with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism that there can and will be Integrity in Public Life.
This is the voice of the Nevis Reformation Party: The Party of Peace, Progress and Prosperity!