The Nevis Reformation Party, at its recent convention, amended its Constitution to end double dipping i.e. no one person is to simultaneously offer as a candidate at the Federal and Local Assemblies . This is now considered to be wrong. That is quite commendable. It would have been even more commendable, magnanimous really, if he had apologised for those periods of wrong-doing when NRP (Parry himself and others) double dipped. He also could have gone further to forbid the acceptance of consultancy work in the one island while holding political office in the other like some NRP candidates were doing until recently.
Mr Parry notes that Mark and Vance “swim the shark infested waters” daily to run Nevis from St Kitts. Interesting concept, because in 1998, Parry campaigned against a move that would have ended this “swimming” that he, too, once did; that Nisbett did up to recently and that many NRP supporters did under the Labour administration after NRP was dethroned in Nevis, and the NIA discontinued facilitation of payments from the St Kitts Treasury. Besides, there are still many persons who cross the Narrows each day in both directions in search of work, and for trade. Another apology for such short-sightedness is required here.
The pundits always think that they are smarter than the voters.
In all the arguments against double dipping, double salary or however it is called, one major point is forgotten or is not mentioned and that is that team unity told voters what their intentions were for for more than two years. It was clear that team unity was expected to form the government provided that they won enough seats.Mr Amory and Mr.Brantley were already part of the Nevis Island Administration. It was expected that they would also hold ministries in The Federal Government in St.Kitts while maintaining their positions in the NIA.The voters knew that but they overwhelmingly voted for them. Voters knew what they were voting for last February and in 2018 when the Nevis Island Assembly elections are called,voters in Nevis will again have a chance to confirm their 2015 federal vote or reject it.Voters are smart, when they vote it is as though God speak.
Mr Parry disavowed any personal loyalty to the Labour Party (amongst others). It is unclear whether such talk happened before or after Phillip Pierre, Leader of the St Lucia Labour Party warned the convention that people matter more and that performance alone is not enough. There is certainly an irony here – a St Lucian Labour man is brought in to give advice to a party that was subsumed by a Kittitian Labour man, yet we are to believe that there is no loyalty to Labour?
Interestingly, the Party returned Mr Parry as Leader, a man who is approaching time allotted on earth. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But we wonder how Mr. Daniel, formerly of Cox and continuously of NRP, views this. Readers will recall his impassioned responses – two letters to the Editor – to an earlier editorial which suggested that many of the young people are not yet ready for leadership and that age 50 is maybe the new age 33.
Perhaps the six new candidates being sought for next elections will be young persons, but we doubt it. Elections are very hard on young, family oriented candidates, especially those who lose. Unless, up- front payment is involved.
Allegedly, such payments have happened before, but in one dipping lumpsum.
