By Kennedy Earle Clarke — 3 March 2022
“There is no political party on Planet Earth which is capable of looking after the interest of the poor and the rich at the same time, for the rich who would be the upkeep of that party, and he who pays the piper calls the tune. Cockroach has no cause to be at fowl’s party, because it will be gobbled up.”
Whenever the topic of the 10th June 1967 is discussed, PAM supporters always come up with the excuse that there were no convictions. But how and when could there be convictions if the estate managers, overseers and businessmen who participated in the attempted coup were the jury on the cases which were brought against the perpetrators? Were these pillars of society going to bring these errand boys who were working on their behalf “GUILTY AS CHARGED”? Out of that trial of those totally involved in the 1967 attempted coup, Mr. Bradshaw legislated: “As long as your name is on the voters list, you can be selected as a juror!” This piece of legislation, like the 1952 Adult Suffrage and the 1966 Free Secondary Education Act, was fiercely criticised by those who believed they should always be monarchs of all they survey.
In 1971, Michael Oliver Powell — PAM’s spokesman and one of those exonerated when the cases were withdrawn in 1967 — became President of the St. Kitts Taxi Association. After discouraging his supporters from buying from Labour-supporting shopkeepers, he encouraged taxi drivers to say negative things about St. Kitts to discourage tourism. In 1972, Earle Clarke personally brought the second largest tourist ship, the “Ille de France,” to St. Kitts with 1,400 passengers — despite a threatened boycott by the Taxi Association. Private cars turned out in patriotic solidarity; the tourists were so satisfied that they praised St. Kitts on television, radio and newspaper, causing others to charter ships to visit. Eight years later, when PAM formed the government, Michael Oliver Powell became Minister of Tourism and hired the same man who brought the Ille de France to St. Kitts. The education continues next week, God willing!