Published 14 May 2020
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Prime Minister Harris: National Assembly was dissolved on Tuesday May 12
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 14, 2020 (PLP PR Media Inc.) — Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, in a national address on Wednesday May 13, informed that he had on Tuesday May 12 advised the Governor General, His Excellency Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO, QC, JP, LL.D, to dissolve the National Assembly, and the Governor General had graciously consented.
“We are a Country governed by laws and our Constitution is our supreme law,” said Prime Minister Harris. “Our Constitution is very clear. Every Parliament shall continue for five years from the date of the first sitting of the National Assembly after an election and shall then end, unless sooner dissolved.”
He added: “It is now almost some five years since that first sitting and I have yesterday (Tuesday May 12) advised His Excellency the Governor General, Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton, to dissolve the National Assembly as from Tuesday, 12th May 2020 and he has graciously consented.”
The last General elections were held on February 16, 2015, and the mantle of leadership fell on the shoulders of Dr Harris who led the three party (the People’s Action Movement, the Concerned Citizens Movement, and the Peoples Labour Party) Team Unity alliance when he was sworn in as the Federation’s third Prime Minister on February 18, 2015.
“With the able assistance of my colleagues, I have endeavoured to wear that mantle with commitment, distinction and humility,” said Dr Harris. “My Cabinet Colleagues and I have dedicated ourselves to the task of delivering a better quality of life to all of our citizens and residents. We believe that we have been successful in great measure. Our record has shown that when faced with opportunities and/or challenges we have always responded effectively and efficiently.”
The Team Unity Cabinet, observed the Honourable Prime Minister, is proud of the manner in which it has restored the country’s good name, which was sullied before they came to office. The Country had experienced a long and extended period of indebtedness and the people had been subjected to an administration that had no regard for the rule of law.
Federation’s economy is now the best in the region, observed the Prime Minister, and its fiscal management of public finances has been second to none. The Team Unity Administration paid off a $117 million IMF debt left by its predecessors. The country has recorded surpluses and positive economic growth every year of Team Unity’s tenure.
“This successful management has allowed us to pay the public servants a double salary four years in succession and cater effectively to the needs of our citizens and residents during this period of global crisis,” he said.
That the eleven-seat National Assembly has been dissolved, Prime Minister Harris noted: “The next elections will bring certainty to our Federation, preserve our democracy and allow us continue to deliver a brighter future, creating employment and prosperity, building bigger homes and keeping us safe.”
He appealed to citizens and residents: “Let us stay together and see this through. In this election, you will have a clear choice. You can go forward to a safer and brighter future with Team Unity, or backwards to the past, which you rejected in 2015. I know that our Federation will be safer and stronger with Team Unity.”
Dr Harris invited each and every one to consider the forthcoming Elections seriously, soberly, and with maturity. He requested all to keep the peace, and stay out of trouble, noting that when it is over, all should overcome and rise above their partisan differences and combine their energies to the task of building their beloved nation for the benefit of every man, woman and child.
“My fellow citizens and residents, I thank you for the opportunity to serve you, and I express to you my willingness to serve you again as Prime Minister with even greater vigour and skill, steeped in experience and commitment,” concluded Dr Harris. “May God bless each and every one of us, as we seek to exercise our sacred Trust as citizens and residents of this, our beloved Country. May God continue to bless our beloved Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
