PM Douglas Dismisses Idea That He Is Stalling Elections Due To Electoral Boundaries
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
December 16, 2009 (CUOPM)
Dismissing suggestions that he is reluctant to hold elections based on the current boundaries, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said he expects another massive victory for the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party based on these boundaries.
In making a case for re-election, Prime Minister Douglas boasted that thousands of formerly landless persons are now proud landowners and that his St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party Administration has delivered.
Dr. Douglas pointed to the “dramatic transformations in the physical, economic, social, and political infrastructure of our nation by Labour that have impressed upon the voters of St. Kitts & Nevis the competence, the effectiveness, and the social and economic progress that successive Labour administrations have delivered.”
“My Government had no reluctance, and has no reluctance, in going to the polls on the existing boundaries. There was an inequity to be fixed, we had determined that we would do all in our power to fix it in the best interest of our nation, and that is what we were committed to do,” said Prime Minister Douglas in a radio and television address in which he announced the dissolution of the lawmaking body paving the way for general elections next year.
Dr. Douglas said the Commonwealth, Caricom, and OAS have accepted his invitation to observe the upcoming elections and it is his fervent hope that when the Commonwealth Expert Team comes in to observe the elections, there will be no “blame game” on the part of the opposition PAM.
“My Government has worked very hard to be worthy of the trust and confidence placed in us by you – the electorate. We have, in many ways, done the impossible on behalf of the people of St. Kitts & Nevis. At a time of real and frightening global economic turmoil, we have kept this tiny country, little more than a dot on the world map, but a place that you and I know to be rich with history, with character, and with potential, not only afloat, but thriving,” said Dr. Douglas.
He pointed out that when superpowers are floundering economically, St. Kitts and Nevis is reporting surpluses.
“At a time when many countries, states, and municipalities are having a hard time meeting basic payroll, sound economic management on the part of this Government is making it possible for us, not merely to provide our public employees with their salary, but to provide them with additional financial resources,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that the physical infrastructure in St. Kitts and Nevis is second to none. “Just look at our roads and our highways”¦..our schools and our health centers”¦”¦our hospitals and our sporting facilities”¦”¦our airport and our seaports”¦”¦the thousands of modern, attractive homes that thousands of our nationals can now point to as their own,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Boasting that thousands of formerly landless persons are now proud landowners, the St. Kitts and Nevis leader said his Labour Party Administration has delivered.
“We have met the task at hand. Indeed we have gone the extra mile ““ because we believe and we know that that is what we, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, deserve. Fellow citizens: When it became apparent that this tiny nation of ours would come crashing down if we remained in sugar”¦”¦when it became apparent that the doors to our traditional export markets were being slammed shut, and would remain open only if we sold our sugar at a price that would bankrupt us as a nation, your Government did not panic. Your Government did not despair. There is an old say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And that is what we did in order to save this precious country of ours from humiliation”¦.from social and economic chaos”¦”¦from the desperation that is the lot of so many small nations around the world. Your Government moved without delay to put in place the best financial minds, the clearest economic and financial analysis, the most thorough and in-depth processes of cost/benefit analyses, in our determination to come out of this crisis not only standing ““ but standing tall,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that today, almost half a decade later, “not only did our country not collapse as a result of the removal of the traditional cornerstone of our economy, but unemployment has fallen since that time from 16 percent to 6 percent % – – — – Six percent! At a time when major world powers are hovering near double digit unemployment levels.”