(Editor’s note: In journalism, part of the responsibility lies in sorting out fact from fiction. On a rare occasion, versions of the truth are so starkly different that no amount of reporting can give the reader more clarity, so the only realistic option is lay it all out and let the reader decide what is what. Below are two press releases on the same subject. The first is from the office of Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas. The second is from the Peoples Action Movement. Please read each and enjoy – Steve Thomas)
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, APRIL 15TH 2008 (CUOPM) – A recent poll in St. Kitts and Nevis has indicated that Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKLP) still have the vote of confidence of the population.
This is according to a Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) public opinion poll which was released on Monday after being conducted during the last two weeks of March.
The story carried by the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) showed that if elections were called at that time, 45 percent of the electorate would give their vote to Prime Minister Douglas while 20 percent would support People’s Action Movement (PAM) leader, Mr. Lindsay Grant.
CADRES also questioned respondents about whether they were satisfied with the leadership of both political parties and found that 49 percent were satisfied with Douglas’ leadership and 55 percent felt he was the best person to lead the SKLP.
It also showed that 47 percent said they were dissatisfied with the stewardship provided by Grant and 42 percent said they did not think that he was the best leadership choice.
A probe into the alternatives to PAM leadership revealed that the vast majority – 67 percent – of people showed a preference for the party’s lone Member of Parliament Hon. Shawn Richards, while Mr. Glenroy Blanchette received the support of 21 percent of the respondents.
The survey also investigated the popularity of the soon to be concluded Electoral Reform Programme.
When asked whether they were generally satisfied with the outcome of the initiative, 49 percent said they were, while 23 percent said no and the remaining 28 percent said they were unsure.
“Specifically, CADRES asked persons how they felt about three major components, namely the National ID card, the re-registration process and the manner in which the issue of overseas voting was dealt with,’ a release from CADRES said.
“The overwhelming majority of Kittitians were satisfied with the National ID card and re-registration process – 67 percent and 61 percent respectively. However, the response to the overseas voting issue was considerably less clear.
Forty-two percent of respondents were happy about the treatment of overseas voters, while 39 percent were not happy about the manner in which that issue was dealt with.
CADRES said the data suggested that the population was “generally pleased with the outcome of the often controversial electoral reform programme, but have reservations about the fact that this programme appears to have formalised the overseas voting tradition.”
General elections in St. Kitts and Nevis are not constitutionally due until October 2009.
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(From PAM)
The CADRES statement reported by CANA today must be seen for what it is, nothing but public relations misinformation – An attempt to muster support for the ruling party’s Labour Day parade in order to avoid a repeat of last year’s dismal Labour Party Labour Day flop.
The CADRES public relations press release coincides with the current series of Labour party public meetings calling on supporters to turn out for the party’s Labour Day event.
It is significant that the CADRES PR release did not reveal who commissioned the poll, and who approved the publication, or even its sampling method.
In any event, the report is riddled with obvious anomalies such that it cannot be taken seriously.
For example, the CADRES release reported on a question about alternative leadership for PAM, while giving no such information about the Labour Party leadership.
It would be recalled that late last year, CADRES predicted that the Congress of the People would replace the PNM as the government of Trinidad and Tobago and that Winston Dookeran – whose party did not win a single seat in the 41 member Trinidad Parliament – would replace Patrick Manning as Prime Minister.
Moreover, the people of St Kitts and Nevis recall the issues at the time CADRES supposedly polled – the Labour administration was facing the issues of not officially welcoming the new President-elect of the Republic of China on Taiwan – not to mention PM Douglas’ inappropriate rental to their Embassy – and PETA protesting the Government’s lack of action to alleged abuses at Ross University; the Government’s delayed action here may continue to negatively affect the St. Kitts and Nevis tourism industry in the long-term- An industry which not only the economy depends, but also many people of the Federation to gain their livelihood.
Commenting on the CADRES public relations release, Leader of the opposition Peoples Action Movement, Lindsay Grant, had this to say:
“CADRES and Doctor Douglas seriously test the tolerance of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis when they describe the farcical and illegitimate reconfirmation process that the Prime Minister is masterminding as “popular”.
“They put their own credibility on the line with their claimed public acceptance of the reconfirmation travesty.
“Nevertheless, PAM is advising its members to go through reconfirmation exercise, flawed as it is”
“With Mugabe as the poster boy for entrenched leaders refusing to bow to the will of the people, we have to defeat Douglas , whatever he tries.”
“In any event, PAM is quite happy with the decisive support we are getting from the electorate.”
“The response we are getting from the ground is confirmed in the polling results that we have been getting from independent research that has been shared with us.”
The leader of the opposition Peoples Action Movement concluded with an assertion confirming that the wind of change is imminent and inevitable for St. Kitts and Nevis, saying, “The party is over for Labour; the people are anxious to take back their government from Denzil Douglas, Sam Condor and Dwyer Astaphan and others”.
