For the past twenty six years, from June, 1984 to the present, Nevisian leaders have allowed themselves to be contented with the crumbs from the table in this federal arrangement with St. Kitts. It’s time that we see the light and establish a system from which we can extract a substantial loaf of bread and not just crumbs. On the 18 February, 1980, the Peoples Action Movement (PAM) won three out of seven seats in St. Kitts and in order to form a government they scrambled over to Nevis to form a coalition government with the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) which ran unopposed in Nevis and won the only two seats that were up for contest. Simeon Daniel, the then leader of NRP jumped to the opportunity and demanded key ministerial positions for him and the other elected NRP candidate, Ivor Stevens (now deceased). The leader of PAM at the time, Dr. Kennedy Simmonds was not in a position to deny or even to negotiate so he simply yielded to Sim Daniel and granted him the Ministries of Finance and Communication. Sim Daniel became the Minister of Finance and Ivor Stevens the Minister of Communication in the PAM/NRP Coalition Government in February, 1980. Nevisians were skeptical about their party joining with a party in St. Kitts to form a government especially considering that the NRP contested the election on a secession ticket and had a one sentence manifesto, “Secession for Nevis at all cost.” Furthermore, although thirteen years had passed, Nevisians still remembered with indignance, that they voted overwhelmingly for the United National Movement (UNM) headed By the late Eugene Walwyn who campaigned throughout the 1960’s for secession for Nevis. The then Premier Robert Bradshaw was against Nevis breaking away so he invited Eugene Walwyn to join the Labour Party. Eugene Walwyn abandoned the secession cause and joined the Labour Party in St.Kitts in 1967, accepting for himself the position of Attorney General. That action By Eugene Walwyn was perceived By the people of Nevis as a betrayal and he met his political demise in Nevis as a result. In the general elections of May, 1971, Eugene Walwyn travelled the length and breadth of Nevis blasting out the song, “O Let the Power Fall on I” and begged for re-election but the Nevisian electorate rejected him. The Labour Party won all seven seats in St. Kitts in that election and Bradshaw dumped Eugene Walwyn and replaced him with a young Kittitian lawyer By the name of Lee Moore. As far as Nevisians were concerned, Eugene Walwyn was tricked and fooled and many wondered if Sim Daniel was walking down the same path as Eugene when he joined with PAM. However, whereas Eugene Walwyn was not able to get anything tangible for Nevis in his four years as Attorney General, Sim Daniel moved quickly to reap success where Eugene failed. He established the Civil Service in Nevis which was extremely important and placed the administration of Nevis affairs in the hands of Nevisians based in Nevis. Free secondary education began in St. Kitts-Nevis in 1967 but Nevisians had to live in St. Kitts if they wished to pursue sixth form education. As a result, many brilliant Nevisians were not able to advance beyond fifth form as their parents could not support them in St. Kitts. Sim Daniel moved quickly in 1980 to establish a sixth form college in Nevis thus allowing all Nevisians who were academically fit to advance beyond O’Level. Prior to 1980, Nevisians walked for miles to get a bucket of water and that ended in 1980 as Sim Daniel ensured that wells were dug and the necessary storage tanks built to supply water to every village and household on the island. Oil lamps were very prevalent up to 1980 as the generating capacity of the little power plant in Charlestown was hugely inadequate. Sim Daniel made that a priority and took Nevis out of darkness. So, it was very obvious that the amalgamation between PAM and NRP worked to the benefit of Nevis while Sim Daniel held the key position of Minister of Finance. With Nevis receiving real gains from the union with PAM, many Nevisians revised their perception of the posture of St.Kitts towards Nevis. Suspending the fight for secession and pursuing economic union with St.Kitts had become a real and popular thought. The political relationship between the two islands had never been better and the sharing arrangement in the eyes of Nevisians appeared quite equitable. But tragedy struck in June, 1984 and Nevisians realized that it doesn’t matter whether the ruling party in St. Kitts is Labour or PAM, the attitude towards Nevis will be the same, which is to use Nevis to their advantage when they are not in a position of strength; but once strength is gained, to drop Nevis like a bundle of wood. PAM won six out of seven seats in the general election of June, 1984. They were suddenly catapulted into a power of strength and did not need the NRP seats to outnumber Labour so their first reaction was to take the Finance Ministry from Sim Daniel and relegated him to Minister of Sea Water (environment). To add insult to injury, Sim Daniel was not able to pay Civil Servants in Nevis for three months that same year while Civil Servants on St.Kitts were paid and the Prime Minister and new Minister of Finance Dr. Kennedy Simmonds did not come to the aid of Nevis. Even Labour supporters in St. Kitts, who hated and still hate everything that is PAM, applauded Dr. Simmonds for taking the Finance Ministry from Sim Daniel. The relationship between PAM and NRP soured from there onwards and Sim Daniel rarely visited St.Kitts after 1984 though the coalition government continued to exist. So, just as Eugene Walwyn was dumped By Bradshaw, Sim Daniel suffered almost the same fate at the hands of Dr. Simmonds. It’s clear therefore that the St. Kitts parties have no interest in the Nevis parties other than to use them when the electorate in St. Kitts does not leave either of them in a position of strength through a clear majority. In 1993, the general elections resulted in a tie in St. Kitts when each party won four seats. Both parties reached out to the leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement, Vance Amory to form a coalition government, even offering him the position of Prime Minister as a lure which Amory declined, choosing in his own words to remain “Neutral”. Had he accepted, Nevis would have gotten substantial gains during his tenure but when one looks at the way Dr. Simmonds treated Sim Daniel and the overpowering personality of the Prime Minister today, one wonders how long would Amory have lasted as Prime Minister before he, like Eugene and Sim before him, would have been relegated to a position of ignominy and banished back to Nevis. Though that may be looked at as mere conjecture, the trend suggested that it was highly likely to happen. It is now January 2010 and we are getting ready for Federal Election. A lot of money is being spent By the two parties in Nevis preparing for this election but what is the significance of this election for Nevis? If a party in St. Kitts wins a clear majority, those who win in Nevis will only be on the opposition benches as usual where nobody on the government side pays them any attention. The ruling party in St. Kitts will carry out their plans regardless to the rantings of the Nevis contingent in the house. The time has come therefore, for the Nevisian leaders to change course. History has shown us that St.Kitts political parties have no use for Nevis political parties other than to use them to achieve an end. Why are we therefore, wasting our time and resources By taking part in the Federal Election? Why are we exerting so much effort just to sit on the opposition benches? There is talk that if there is a 4/4 in St. Kitts, a party in St. Kitts may want to join with a party in Nevis as was the case in 1993 and some persons in Nevis see that as hope. But given the history, why do we want to walk that road again? Be reminded that Dr. Douglas said during the 1995 election campaign that his party would not tolerate any Nevis party joining with a party in St. Kitts to frustrate the wishes of the St.Kitts people. More recently he said that he i
ncited already and he could incite again. Should the Nevis representatives therefore, risk their safety and join with a St.Kitts party in the event there is a tie in St.Kitts? I submit that they should not. Rather, the two parties in Nevis should now stop the hostility towards each other and push for constitutional change. My suggestion is to adopt Lee Moore’s suggestion which was printed in the “Green Paper” of 1982/83 which clearly outlined separate governments for St. Kitts and Nevis. Once that is in place, each island will only have to go to the polls once every five years. From the two governments, a “Federal Committee” can be constituted proportionately given the population sizes in the two islands, which will be responsible for making decisions governing issues that jointly concern the two islands. Presently, the Federal Government is made up of ministers from St. Kitts only, elected By Kittitians. Obviously, their interest will be to take care of the electorate in St. Kitts who elected them and to whom they will turn for re-election. As far as they are concerned, Nevis is a mere distraction because nobody in Nevis voted for them and so they will never have any interest in the cause of Nevis. I am confused as to why our Nevisian leaders are spending so much money in Nevis to participate in an election which only places us on the opposition benches in the Federal Parliament; and this notion of going there to fight for Nevis is pure folly. The Nevisian electorate ought to think long and hard about the wisdom of participating in a Federal Election. We should tell the government in Basseterre to create a St. Christopher nine in order to get an odd number and eliminate Nevis nine, ten and eleven. In short, I think Nevisians should boycott the general elections. It has no significance for Nevis. Let us demand of our leaders instead that they push for separate governments for each island and a “Federal Committee” to handle federal issues. Nevisians will then be able to go the polls once every five years to elect the Nevis Island Government which is all that matters to us.
