Last Updated on October 13, 2019, 10:32 PM AST by Anthony Morris
St Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris was a no show at last Friday’s meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Monetary Council in Basseterre.
“The Ninety-Fourth Meeting of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was held at the ECCB Headquarters, Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis, on 11 October 2019 via videoconference, under the Chairmanship of Dr The Right Honourable Keith Mitchell,” the communique said. Dr Mitchell is the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Grenada.
The ECCB communique listed the participants as follows: “Council Members attending the meeting were:
Dr The Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Grenada (Chairman);
The Honourable Victor F Banks, Premier and Minister for Finance, Anguilla;
The Honourable Gaston Browne, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Antigua and Barbuda;
The Honourable Donaldson Romeo, Premier and Minister for Finance, Montserrat;
The Honourable Camillo Gonsalves, Minister for Finance, St Vincent and the Grenadines;
The Honourable Delmaude Ryan, Monetary Council Alternate, Montserrat; and
The Honourable Bradley Felix, Temporary Alternate, Saint Lucia.”
The ECCB statement gave no reason for Dr Harris’ absence or an indication that St Kitts and Nevis was represented by an Alternate – a designated Cabinet minister or the Financial Secretary.
The absence of Prime Minister Harris from the ECCU meeting at which membership is mostly prime ministers who, like him are ministers of finance, comes days after a news story that Caribbean leaders have been giving Dr Harris “the cold shoulder.”
“Dr Harris’ relationship with his regional colleagues at both the OECS and CARICOM levels are at its lowest and it appears no Caribbean prime minister may have sent independence congratulatory messages to Dr Harris in celebration of the 36th anniversary of the Federation’s political independence,” said the individual who requested anonymity.
A search of congratulatory messages dispatched to St Kitts and Nevis and made public, shows that Prime Minister Harris received four messages from the prime ministers of Thailand and India, the president of Nicaragua and the Secretary General of CARICOM.
“The relationship between Dr Harris and other relational leaders has soured. It began a few years ago when he did not dispatch congratulatory messages because he was annoyed with them on several issues. He has lost their respect, he has shown a lack of leadership, a lack of knowledge on regional policy and issues and an international perspective,” the person said.
“Dr Harris has also lost their trust. His word has no currency and he is not a team player,” said the individual who added: “Harris gave a commitment to a Caribbean Head of Government to attend a meeting to discuss a regional matter. He gave that commitment twice, only to be a no-show at the meeting although he was in the country.”
Since blocking the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2018 Article IV Consultation on the economy of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Harris has been a “no show” International Monetary Fund and World Bank Meetings in 2018 and 2017.
In 2018, he was absent from the Eighth Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru.
Harris was also a no-show at the Twenty-Ninth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference Heads of Government of CARICOM in Haiti and the CARICOM Inter-Sessional in Guyana last year.
In 2016 and 2017, he was absent from several regional and international meetings including the 42nd Regional Conference of the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) held in St. Kitts, the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) forum of Regional Parliamentarians Forum in Kingston, Jamaica; Antigua and Barbuda’s 2nd Annual Citizenship by Investment Conference and the 47th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Dr Harris has also avoided travelling to London or via London to get to the Dubai and Morocco.
The St Kitts and Nevis prime minister also avoided the Global Investment Immigration Summit in London.
“He will not go to London, not with that bribery scandal hanging over his head,” said Hon Marcella Liburd, deputy political leader of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP).
Dr. Harris is named in a judgment in the British High Court.
In a taped conversation heard in the London Court, Virdee said Dr Harris in London on his way to Dubai, begged him for a nice watch, a pair of shoes and election campaign funds during discussions on a proposed solar energy project for St Kitts.
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.
