By Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The ongoing disagreement in Team Unity with strong public opinion suggesting that the coalition is crumbling only after seven years of assuming office has drawn the attention of Rev. Ron Daniel.
Rev. Daniel of the Wesleyan Holiness Church speaking with WINN FM on Thursday (Mar. 31) expressed his concern over the current state of affairs of the country amidst political discord.
“As a christian leader in this federation, I am genuinely concerned about the direction of our country based on recent comments of our federation’s government officials. My concern is not necessarily with who is right or wrong, or who is lying or massaging the facts, my concern is threefold.
One. There is a horrible example set. We, young and old, look up to our leaders whether they want to admit it or not. When our leaders can publicly embarrass or expose each other, when there are avenues for discussion, debates and disagreements to be settled privately, then it says to our people, young and old, that we can do the same,” said Rev. Daniel.
Questions have been raised as to whether the political discord would take a toll on the country.
“Secondly, governance becomes hard. How possible is it for these leaders now to sit down over the three years to discuss matters and come to a decent consensus? We are still living in a pandemic with the world economy almost on pause over the last two years and now the world has been plunged into crisis with the war in Ukraine. We are already feeling it with the massive increases in gas and food.”
Elections for the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis are constitutionally due in 2025 but political pundits say it may come sooner than later. The same goes for the Nevis Island Assembly elections which are constitutionally due by March 2023 but comments by the island’s Premier suggest it may be soon.
“Thirdly, the possibility of yet another federal election after only two years. When the government leaders publicly disagree and denigrate each other like this, it may lead to another election. Elections are by their nature expensive and divisive. In Nevis, we are already due for local elections this year. Imagine us in Nevis having two elections in the same year. We are already fed up with these constant elections. It is simply too much, especially when only 21 months ago, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis duly elected the federal government.”
