Last Updated on June 24, 2019, 8:52 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has denounced as “abhorrent” the recent dictatorial threats by Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris towards the Hon Michael S Browne, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology in the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
“This development further confirms the very dangerous dictatorial, fascistic and narcissistic tendencies of Dr. Harris and offers yet further evidence of the totalitarian direction in which he is taking our beautiful country. Prime Minister Harris is a threat to free speech, general freedom and democracy, and needs to be stopped now,” the Party said in the statement on Monday afternoon.
Browne was invited to St. Kitts and Nevis to participate in a ceremony to mark the official announcement of Mr. Leon Natta-Nelson as the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party candidate for St. Christopher 7.
Browne arrived in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis on Friday June 21st and received protocolary services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as is expected when a visiting high government official enters the state.
The Labour Party noted that during the ceremony on Saturday June 22nd at the Ottleys Playing Field, Mr Browne, in delivering his feature address, informed the audience that at about 12:15 a.m. on that same day, Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris had called Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Hon. Gaston Browne, expressing abhorrence that Hon. Michael Browne was in St. Kitts and Nevis to speak at the official announcement of Mr. Leon Nelson-Natta.
Minister Browne revealed further that Prime Minister Harris told the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda that Michael Browne’s participation in the ceremony was a ‘declaration of war’ and as such, ‘his security in St. Kitts and Nevis could not be guaranteed.’
Minister Browne further reported that he was further informed that Prime Minister Harris threatened that he (Michael Browne) would not be allowed to come back to St Kitts and Nevis in the future.
“The Hon. Minister of Antigua and Barbuda ended his report of the incident by emphasising that ‘he was reporting it because it was the truth’,” the Labour Party statement said.
“The (Team Unity) government’s continuing denial of access by the Opposition to state-owned media and community centres, its legislative attempts to deny overseas nationals the right to vote in the country of their belonging, its refusal to register Labour-supporting voters, its refusal to issue them voter identification cards, and the recent destruction of St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party billboards by Harris sycophants, are all deeply worrisome and strongly indicative that St. Kitts and Nevis is in the clutches of a galloping dictatorship,” the Labour Party statement added.
It said that the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party promises to repair “our broken democratic system and restore free speech, freedom of association, general freedom and democracy, after the next general election.”
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.
