Photo (left to right); Dr. Terrance Drew, caretaker, St. Christopher 8; Dr. Earl Asim Martin, Deputy Political Leader; Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, Political Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), Leader of the Opposition and Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 6; Hon. Marcella Liburd, SKNLP Chairperson and Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 2 (Central Basseterre) and Hon. Konris Maynard, Parliamentary Representative, for St. Christopher 3 (West Basseterre).
By: E. Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 28, 2018 – Declaring that the opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) has officially been mobilised, Party Leader, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said there will be at least four new candidates on the slate for the next general election constitutionally due in 2020, but could be called in the next few months.
Dr. Douglas told reporters and the nation at the Party’s monthly press conference Wednesday that 18 candidates applied for seven of the eight seats on St. Kitts.
“The process has been exceptionally reliable and has turned out a number of prospective candidates who applied to be with Douglas at this time.
He said even those who are bang replaced applied. We went through a process of application. They subjected themselves to extensive interviews. From the process we will have a new team.
Dr. Douglas said new candidates, who were not named will replace former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Earl Asim Martin in St. Christopher 1; Dr. Norgen Wilson in St. Christopher 5 and Dr. Vance Gilbert in St. Christopher 7.
“We are making sure we do the right thing in St. Christopher 4,” said Dr. Douglas.
He said he will be presenting a new group of persons with a different appeal who will understand where the party came from.
“Who understand the delivery that will have to be made in the advancement of our people and the country; the middle-income group in particular who want a different type of politics and who want empowerment in our country St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said.
“Our candidate selection process is all but complete. 8% complete and we are on the move. I encourage our listeners and supporters to remain alert and pay close attention to the government’s actions this year. I also urge those who stand with us to keep themselves in a state of readiness for the events in 2018 that are in store. The Labour Party’s quest to free St. Kitts and Nevis from the death grip of the likes of Dr. Timothy Harris has begun,” said Dr. Douglas.
In the 2015 General Election the Labour Party lost two St. Kitts seats it held – St. Christopher 1 by 4 votes and St. Christopher 4 by 26 votes.
The SKNLP is the largest single party in St. Kitts and Nevis, gaining 11,897 votes to the Hon. Shawn Richards’ Peoples Action Movement (PAM), 8,452 votes; Hon. Vance Amory’s Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) 3,951 votes; Hon. Joseph Parry’s (Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), 3,276 votes and Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris’ People’s Labour Party (PLP), 2,723 votes.
Seatwise in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, the PAM holds 4 seats, the SKNLP, 3 seats, the CCM, two seats; the NRP and the PLP, 1 seat each.
Harris’ three-party coalition is made up of the PLP, CCM and PAM.
