Published 29 November 2017
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
“1 is more than 4” shines; PAM Ministers appear impotent or unwilling to help their supporters
Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 27, 2017 – Juni “Scrape” Hodge, who is to be removed as Superintendent of Her Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre on December 2, is a former candidate for the co-ruling People’s Action Movement (PAM) which holds four of the seven seats in the Three-party Team Unity government headed by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris.
Hodge was also one of five unsuccessful PAM candidates who called for the resignation of then PAM leader, Lindsay Grant after the January 25, 2010 general elections loss.
In a letter dated April 21, 2010 and addressed to Sidney Osborne, Chairman of the PAM, Glenroy Blanchette, Roy Fleming, Bernard Welsh, Junie Hodge and Ronald Williams listed six reasons why Lindsay Grant should step down immediately as leader of the party, claiming that during the 2010 General Election he had erred in judgment.
“We, the undersigned candidates of the People’s Action Movement, hereby write to express our deep concern for the party which we all love. We have become concerned about the sentiments of a vast number of PAM supporters who believe that Mr. Grant should step down as Political Leader. His errors in judgment during the 2010 General Election have significantly hurt the party,” the letter stated.
The candidates stated the following issues as reasons why Grant should “step down immediately:
1. The bribery scandal at the Marriott hotel. This scandal damaged the party’s chances at the polls;
2. The lack of transparency and accountability with campaign finances;
3. Mr. Grant’s disappearing act after the General Elections and his failure to provide leadership to the thousands of supporters who put their lives and jobs on the line for the party;
4. The decision to postpone the National Annual Convention and Caucus was unconstitutional;
5. The exclusion of candidates from the decision-making process re: party affairs; and
6. His poor leadership during the 2010 General Election campaign.
“We have strayed too far from the ideology and philosophy of the Founding Fathers of the People’s Action Movement. The election of a new Political Leader can help to steer the party back to its roots and make the party’s grassroots’ supporters feel welcomed. We hope that Mr. Grant would do the right thing and step down immediately.”
Although Grant ignored the request to resign and was re-elected as PAM leader on June 13, 2010, he announced on July 16, 2012 that his resignation would take effect on September 30, 2012.
While Fleming and Blanchette left the PAM party, the other three remained.
However, with four of the seven seats in the three-party cabinet following the mid-February 2015 General Elections, supporters of the PAM have openly expressed the view that the PAM ministers appear impotent or unwilling to help their supporters and have allowed Prime Minister Harris, the only PLP member in the Cabinet, to sideline them with his dictatorial attitude, greed, nepotism, and cronyism and total disrespect to the PAM ministers and the PAM party supporters with the much talked about “1 is more than 4.”
The growing disenchantment with Harris’ leadership and the swirling refrain from supporters of the PAM “that is not what we voted for” resulted in an announcement one week ago of a “Town Hall Meeting to talk with your PAM candidates on Tuesday 28th November 2017.”
Monday morning an announcement circulated on social media said the PAM Town Hall Meeting has been postponed until further notice.”
The others in the Team Unity Government are Hon. Ian “Patches” Liburd, Hon. Lindsay Grant, Hon. Shawn Richards and Hon. Eugene Hamilton of the PAM and Hon. Vance Amory and Hon. Mark Brantley of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) of Nevis. The other three seats in the National Assembly are shared by the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), – Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, Hon. Marcella Liburd and Hon. Konris Maynard and the Hon. Patrice Nisbett of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP).
Photo 1 – Juni Scrape Hodge
Photo 2 – The Team Unity Cabinet
