Delegates enthusiastically endorse candidates presented by Labour Party Leader and PM Douglas
Basseterre, St. Kitts (CUOPM) — With general elections constitutionally due in January 2015, over 750 delegates enthusiastically accepted the full slate of candidates submitted by St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas at Sunday’s 82nd Annual Conference of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
Dr. Douglas told delegates that team – seven males and one female – will over the next five years work to protect and advance the interests of the twin-island Federation.
“These men and this woman have the level of training, the level of accomplishment, and the level of confidence that will ensure the independence of thought, the capacity for analysis, and the essential vision that we all need to know is present in our Federal Cabinet,” said Dr. Douglas, who was re-elected as National Leader for the 26thconsecutive year.
He told the delegates that the slate of candidates presents to the nation youth and experience, innovation and wisdom.
“It brings, as no other party does, the synergies that this dynamic blending makes possible. And it presents to the nation a caliber of leadership that a high-potential, high-performing nation like St. Kitts and Nevis needs as we face the challenges of the 21st century. The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party is dynamic, fresh, and energized. We are stronger. We are better. And we are ready! We represent experience plus innovation, we are energy plus wisdom. We are what this moment calls for,” submitted Prime Minister Douglas.
He said the leadership represent across the board, the magic and the beauty of Labour. “Our Party’s philosophy and our Party’s impact – because we are living examples of the multi-faceted talents and the skills that the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, has brought to light in this land of ours,” said Dr. Douglas.
“I, for example, could never have afforded, as a child, to attend high school. But today, I am a medical doctor. Completely due to the policies of Labour. Today, stories like mine, as well as younger versions of my experience, abound – thanks to the scholarships, the student loans, and the PEP that this Government has placed at the disposal of Kittitians and Nevisians, all across the land. And so within our Party, as across the our nation, we see many doctors and mechanics, electricians and lawyers, teachers and artists, engineers and farmers, architects and scientists, who, thanks to Labour’s policies, were exposed to new possibilities, were affirmed through the development of their God-given talents and now, with calm hearts know that their place is secure in St. Kitts and Nevis which under this Labour Government, exists for us all,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
The candidates whom the members of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, branch by branch, with the endorsement of the National Executive, have put forward as candidates in the upcoming general election are:
“Constituency #1 – the Honourable Dr. Earl Asim Martin: A medical doctor by training; a colleague and partner in the Federal parliament for some nineteen years; our nation’s Minister of Public Works, Energy, and Housing; Minister Martin has, for the past sixteen months, provided extraordinary service to our country as he has expanded homeownership, transformed our nation’s infrastructure, and continued to advance our country’s green energy agenda.”
“Chosen by the members of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in Constituency #2; having distinguished herself as a teacher and an athlete, an attorney and former Speaker of the National Assembly, the Honourable Marcella A. Liburd was elected in 2010 having won all the boxes than any other candidate in the history of Constituency #2. The Honourable Marcella A. Liburd is the compelling Chairman of our St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, our country’s Minister of Health, Social and Community Development, and Culture, a leader whose commitment and competence have rebounded to the benefit of the ministries she leads, our political party – which she chairs – and indeed the nation.”
Dr. Douglas pointed out that springtime is a time of freshness, and newness, and hope – a time very much like the early mornings in the islands.
“That newness of spirit now defines the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party. And that freshness, combined now with the skill and experience for which Labour has long been known, has not only energized our membership but has brought countless new Nationals who now want to help in the work that we in Labour have committed ourselves to do,” he said as he presented the candidate for Constituency #3, Mr. Konris Maynard.
“He is a winner of too many calypso crowns to count; electrical and computer engineer; former manager at Sol Petroleum; dedicated husband and father; a member of Labour’s Springtime crew – it is an honour to call to the stage Mr. Konris Maynard!,” said Dr. Douglas.
“Youth, Sports, Technology: Say these words in St. Kitts and Nevis and one name comes to mind – the Honourable Glenn ‘Ghost’ Phillip. Elected by the people of Constituency #4 in January 2010, Glenn Phillip today ensures that students in this country are at the cutting edge of technology; he ensures that our athletes and our stadia can compete on the world stage; he always thinks of one that one unique angle that would make ideas placed before him even better. For all that he has done to advance the technological capabilities of this Federation and to raise the profile of the Federation in the world of sports….for all that he has done on behalf of this nation’s youth, I am eternally grateful. And it is with pride and satisfaction that I call on the Conference to endorse the Hon. Glenn ‘Ghost’ Phillip – the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s candidate for Constituency #4,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said Constituency #5 needs and deserves capable, competent, dependable representation. “Constituency #5 needs a representative who is ready to assume the serious responsibilities associated with being an elected representative. And so the members of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in that constituency have identified Dr. Norgen Wilson as the man to represent them…….the man to advance the Constituency’s interests……..in parliament,” said Dr. Douglas.
“Born in Constituency #5 and educated in Constituency #5, Norgen Wilson trained as a medical doctor, moved on to serve our country as both a physician and a member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defense Force, and today, as a member of Labour’s Springtime crew, personifies the dedication, determination, and accomplishment that voters in St. Kitts and Nevis demand and deserve today. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pride that I present Dr. Norgen Wilson,” said the Prime Minister.
With loud applause from the conference floor, Prime Minister Douglas again boasted that it is indeed springtime in Labour and Dr. Vance Gilbert, Dr. Terrance Drew and Mr. Konris Maynard make it so.
“Trained as a physician, to heal, Dr. Vance Gilbert was specifically chosen by the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in Constituency #7 to do precisely that: to reach across long-standing divides within the Constituency to build bridges so carelessly broken, to make of a fractured Constituency – one. How interesting, how significant, how noteworthy, that at this particular time in our nation’s history there have been so many candidates within the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party who have spent thousands upon thousands of hours mastering the art of making that which is broken, whole, the art of making that which is ill, well, the art of preserving life and hope at all times men whose most sacred pledge, as physicians, is first and always, to ‘do no harm.’
“Dr. Vance Gilbert, trained, like Dr. Wilson, to heal, has been chosen by Constituency 7, and endorsed by the National Executive, as the person with the character, the track record within the constituency, and the ability to bring together the people of Constituency 7. It is springtime, indeed, in Labour, and Dr. Vance Gilbert is making it so,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
“Comrades, our Party’s candidate for constituency #8 is Dr. Terrance Drew, trained as a physician in Cuba. He returned home to serve as a trained doctor for several years, travelled to the United States for further specialisation, and then returned home once more after he was asked, by the people of Constituency #8, to represent the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in the upcoming election, in order to bring to Constituency 8 the professionalism, the dynamism, the competence, and the integrity that that constituency, and indeed, the nation needs,” said Dr. Douglas.
The longstanding National Labour Party leader reminded conference delegates and invited guests from the non-governmental organisations and the consular and diplomatic corps that it was Dr. Drew who coined the phrase “Springtime in Labour” and he, along with Mr. Konris Maynard, Dr. Norgen Wilson, and Dr. Vance Gilbert have indeed made it so.
“From the beginning, Bradshaw, and Southwell, and France set out to do and what we in the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party of from the moment we assumed office have done as well: ensured that the skilled and those in training; the established and those still striving; the young and the old recognise the phenomenal synergies that together, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the people of St. Kitts & Nevis can continue to create, just as we have for the past 19 years, despite any global threats we may encounter despite any shocks which may develop closer to home,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
“Our time in office has proven that the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the people of this country – together – are a winning combination. As a result, at the level of the corporation or at the level of the individual with reference to safety or with reference to our economic standing, St. Kitts and Nevis, all of us, as a people and as a nation, are on a positive trajectory. With insight and wisdom, let us work, all of us, to maintain this – within the Labour Party and throughout the Nation. With clean and grateful hearts, let us rejoice in what we have achieved – and build on it. With sober minds and clarity of vision, let us realize how truly blessed are. And together, let us ensure that St. Kitts & Nevis continues to be the stable, well managed, and respected country that it is,” said Prime Minister Douglas.