Invitation to ask NRP parliamentarian was from a position of strength

Basseterre, St. Kitts (CUOPM) — Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said Tuesday when the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party asked an elected parliamentarian from Nevis to join his Federal Cabinet in 2010, it was from a position of strength.

And with announcement of the date of the next general elections imminent, it must be recognized the importance of the Federal Parliament having fixed an aberration that had long – and urgently – needed to be fixed.

“In December of 2014, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party entered into a Contract with the National Reformation Party of Nevis, a contract which was an expansion of the straightforward and honourable joining of forces which had actually already taken place between the NRP and Labour in January 2010,” said Prime Minister Douglas during Tuesday’s “Ask the Prime Minister.”

Dr. Douglas noted that in January 2010, five years ago, the Labour Party had just won 75 percent of the seats on St. Kitts.

“In January 2010, Labour had just secured a majority of the seats in Federal Parliament. In January 2010, Labour had once again, through hard work and commitment, earned the trust of the people – nationally. And that trust was deep enough and wide enough to permit Labour to form the Federal Government, completely on its own,” the Prime Minister said.

Pointing out that the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party reaching out to the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) in 2010, was not taken from a position of weakness, therefore, but from a position of strength.

“It reflected, not a spirit of opportunism – since Labour did not need the NRP to get into office – but a spirit of openness and trust. It reflected, not our one and only hope of forming the Government, but Labour’s clear determination to make our two islands, in truth and in fact, one. It was in this spirit that the Labour/NRP Contract was signed. And it was in this spirit, that together, we continue moving forward,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

“These are important realities. They draw important contrasts. And they provide valuable insights into all who, today, are vying to govern, and on what basis they are actually doing so. And so, as we ready ourselves to decide exactly who will manage the affairs of our blessed country for the next five years,” said Prime Minister Douglas.