BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, FEBRUARY 27TH 2014 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Denzil L. Douglas made it abundantly clear that his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Administration is constitutionally legitimate and accused the Vance Amory-led Nevis Island Administration of hypocrisy, charging that it is causing confusion in people’s mind in the ongoing political situation in the Federation.
“Here is a Federal Government that is being declared (by Deputy Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Mark Brantley, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament and a deputy leader of the so-called Unity construct) to be illegitimate, meaning then that it has no authority to perform the functions of the government. This is the position that continues to be held by the Nevis Island Administration but then on one hand, it recognizes that it cannot function without this ‘illegitimate government,’ so to speak or as it has been described; And so calls upon the government to do a number of things to help to work with it,” said Prime Minister Douglas on Freedom 106.5 FM “Freedom Talk” with Austin Edinbourough.
“Let me say that this government is not illegitimate and it is because the Nevis Island Administration is aware that it is not illegitimate, why it continues to consider the Federal Government, its working partner in advancing the cause of the people of Nevis,” Dr. Douglas pointed out in response to callers from Nevis, who raised the issue of hypocrisy on the party of the Nevis Island Administration.
“So what you are hearing from Hon. Mark Brantley is really the hypocrite that he is. Mark Brantley’s hypocrisy that is what we are hearing. And I want the people of Nevis therefore to understand the double talk and the hypocrisy that is very evident in the continuing statements that are being made by the CCM and the actions in terms of within the Federal Government because you see you cannot have your cake and eat it,” said Dr. Douglas.
“You cannot be saying that the Federal Government is illegitimate and that the Federal Government is not pursuing its mandate. You cannot say, on the one hand, that you support the Motion of No Confidence to remove the Federal Government because there was no consultation with the people in St. Kitts on the Land for Debt Swap, when in fact, the Federal Government went into Parliament and had a long debate that went into the night. There was not only a debate, but there was a vote taken and there was no vote cast against the Bill that was before the Parliament,” Dr. Douglas said, adding:
“But yet, a few months after the same CCM government is elected to office, it secretly signs a resolution and sends it to the (St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National) Bank, to say I am in favour and I will hand over to the Bank, so many hundreds of acres of land of the people of Nevis in order to wipe off the debt that the Nevis Island Administration has with the National Bank.”
“So on one hand of the hypocrisy, they are saying that the Labour Government is wrong to do it (land swap on St. Kitts), and supports the Motion of No Confidence to bring the life of the Labour Government to an end, but then, in secrecy in Nevis, sign a resolution asking the Bank to take from the people of Nevis hundreds of acres of their lands in exchange for the debt, and then say ‘oh well it is fine and cool for us to do it’, he reiterated.
Dr. Douglas charged that it was hypocrisy at the very highest level because it seems as though the CCM government believes that the people of Nevis are stupid and it is the same thing here.
Prime Minister Douglas also made reference to another evidence of the hypocrisy by Mr. Brantley, who on Tuesday of this week and in his capacity as the Minister of Health, praised the Federal Government for donating three tri-ambulettes to be used by the people of Nevis. Then just over 24 hours later, a caller to the programme informed listeners that the same Federal Government that Mr. Brantley praised on Tuesday, was being labelled on his radio programme, as “illegitimate, and not doing enough with regards to the crime problem on Nevis.”
“So on one hand he praises the Federal Government, but then on the other hand in a few hours he says that the government is illegitimate and that they should not be dealing with this government. In one hand, you condemn the Federal Government on its economic policies, on its financial programmes that have been put in place in order to bring growth into the country, but on the other hand it is basically begging the Federal Government for financial assistance for the very finances that have been raised in the same programmes that they criticize,” the St. Kitts and Nevis leader told listeners.
“You can’t have your cake and eat. This is the height of hypocrisy and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis are not stupid. They are highly educated. The young people have been exposed to that kind of behaviour. It is unsustainable and people will see through the shenanigans and the foolishness and the hypocrisy and they will take the appropriate actions,” said Prime Minister Douglas.