PM Harris Says Team Unity’s Big Election Win Reflects the Electorate’s Rejection Of the Old Ways of Doing Politics And Its Approval of His Administration’s Excellent Work
Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 8th, 2020 (Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister):
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris’ Team Unity Administration was re-elected to a second term with an increased majority on Friday, June 5th, 2020, winning nine of the 11 parliamentary seats – two more since the previous general election of Monday, February 16th, 2015.
“Our outstanding success at the polls held on the 5th of June is a vindication of our excellent work on behalf of the people,” Prime Minister Harris said Sunday in his inauguration speech, referring to Team Unity, which is comprised of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) in Nevis, the People’s Action Movement (PAM) and the People’s Labour Party (PLP) both in St. Kitts.
“We made history by winning the largest share of the vote this time around, securing a national swing to Team Unity of around six percent. We made history in my own constituency (#7) with a swing of 10 percent, making it the strongest results of my 27 years representing the good people of Belle Vue to Ottley’s,” the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis added. On Friday, Dr. Harris was the choice of three out of four voters in Constituency #7, having received 1,870 votes compared to 607 votes for his unsuccessful opponent. In 2015, Dr. Harris received 1,647 votes out of a total of 2,514 successfully cast votes in Constituency #7.
In his inauguration speech, the Prime Minister went on to state that, “At the national level, I believe that the result of the general election was a repudiation of the old ways of doing politics, of grievance by some when they don’t get their own way. It was a repudiation…of an unsustainable debt and the gimmicks and tricks of the old order of politics. It was a repudiation of the bitterness and selfish agenda of those who sought to dictate to the Government, not recognizing that ultimately it is to the broader electorate to which an elected government must respond.”
Prime Minister Harris continued: “Today, however, is not so much about history, and indeed throughout the campaign I and my colleagues reminded the electorate that the campaign must be about the future, about your future and the future of our beloved Federation. It is now about delivering on the promise of the stronger and safer future.”
Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris reminded his audience that, “In 2013, for the first time in our Federation’s history, three party leaders chose to put the nation’s people, their hopes and aspirations for a better future ahead of the partisan politics. We outlined a new philosophy and we marked out new rules of engagement. We were driven by just one objective – to make the life of the people, the life of their families safer and more prosperous. Indeed, that was reflected in our first manifesto Prosperity For All with the sub-theme A Fair Share.”
Dr. Harris was announced as the leader of Team Unity on Thursday, September 26th, 2013 at Greenlands Park. The leaders of the three political parties comprising Team Unity signed the Charlestown Accord in Nevis’ capital on Wednesday, December 17th, 2014. The 17-point agreement states as its first point that, “Nevis shall receive its fair and equitable share of natural resources based on the pro rata population basis to ensure that Nevisians too will benefit fairly from the returns of national investments.” Mr. Vance Amory, the outgoing Parliamentary Representative for Constituency #10 who was Premier of Nevis and leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement at the time, signed on behalf of the CCM