Last Updated on April 23, 2020, 8:14 AM AST by Anthony Morris
In 1994, the Hon Timothy Harris called then St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr the Right Hon Sir Kennedy Simmonds a “power-hungry despot.”
Fast forward to Friday, April 17, 2020, opposition Member of Parliament and deputy political leader of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP). Hon Marcella Liburd labelled now Prime Minister Harris as “despotic.”
Liburd was at the time speaking on the floor of the National Assembly during the debate on a resolution presented to the law-making body by Dr Harris imposing the six-month State of Emergency in St Kitts and Nevis.
Liburd said that on coming May 14, the National Assembly must dissolve, either there is emergency or not. On August 11, the country must have general elections.
In 1993, following the inconclusive November 1993 elections, Dr Simmonds was sworn in as prime minister of a minority government with five seats (four PAM and one NRP) on the government side and six seats (four Labour and two CCM) on the opposition benches.
In January 1994, Harris, the newly-elected St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party MP for St Christopher 7, issued a statement in which he spoke of his supporters’ “frustration and disgust at the travesty committed by the imposition of a minority, unpopular, vindictive, immoral, hateful, and shameless government.”
“You said quite clearly that “(Kennedy) Simmonds and PAM must go!” If Simmonds was not a power-hungry despot, he would not place the peace and prosperity of our country at risk by holding on to power when an entire nation has rejected him and his (PAM) party. I call on Simmonds to put the peace and prosperity of St Kitts first. It is in the interest of St Kitts-Nevis that elections be called now.”
On December 10, 2012, Dr Harris, a senior minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister the Rt Hon Dr Denzil Douglas walked into the Office of the Prime Minister and demanded that Dr Douglas “resign immediately.”
Dr Harris had denied it, but during January 2013 sitting of the National Assembly, Harris admitted: “I told the member for #6 (PM Douglas) that he should resign.”
A regional political analyst who has studied Caribbean politics has repeatedly said: “Dr Harris has not changed over the years. He is a dictator masking as an angel. Every ill name that Dr Harris has called his detractors and others over the years are basically a description at best of himself.
“Recall Dr Harris brought in this social scientist, a Dr Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol from Trinidad who hood-winked and wilfully misled the electorate that your charismatic Prime Minister Dr Douglas was ‘a galloping dictator.’ What have the people of St Kitts and Nevis have in Dr Harris? An entrenched dictator imposed on the people. A dangerous man who wants to hold on to power.” The analyst spoke on condition his name not be mentioned.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
