Ever since the seventeenth (17th) of February 2016 our beloved St. Kitts and Nevis has been suffering from a multiplicity of political and governmental ailments which have been causing us to slide further and further down the scales of assessment as they relate to our economic growth, business development, the education of our children, the health and the general wellness of our people, our ability to feed ourselves, public safety, and general confidence in ourselves and our abilities, to name only some.

From that time our country has been suffering from a very serious leadership deficit. This has led to what is known as ‘Political Paralysis’, a state of affairs which always causes political drift and general instability.

Had it not been for the political maturity and statesmanship of our Comrade Party Leader and his team of other leaders in our party, coupled with that of the political leader of The Nevis Reformation Party and his team, our country would most certainly have descended into full blown chaos.

The only things which are on the increase are the practices of nepotism, ‘family affairs’, bobol, the general corruption of civil servants and persons in the private sector, abuse of public funds, victimisation, and the naked attacks on freedom of speech in general and some sections of the press in particular, not to mention the increasing incompetence in the general administration of the nation’s affairs and the departments (ministries) of the state, in short an increase in the levels of maladministration.

In addition to all of that is the suffering of so many of our people who allowed themselves to be taken in by the loose, empty, meaningless, deceptive talk of the so-called Team Unity (now accurately re-branded as SCHEME UNITY), at the time not realising that it was nothing but crates of baloney, designed and pedaled to turn them against those who have always worked both for them and in their best interests, as well as those of the nation as a whole.

Now, much saddened, but also much wiser, our people have shown that we are ready to remove those now in office, all of whom have betrayed our (the people’s) sacred trust.
The kindest thing which can be said of all those who continue to claim otherwise is that they are being delusional, especially after Monday’s Labour Day march.

Oh, what a day it was! The people of St. Kitts and Nevis responded to the calls and arrangements of our comrade leaders. This year witnessed some innovative changes to the traditional programme of events, and our people showed their appreciation in a very pronounced way.

In previous years, our observation of Labour Day started with the visits to the grave sites of our fallen comrades, paying respect to their memories, and as an expression of our abiding appreciation of, and gratitude for, the services which they gave to our nation and our movement.

As from this year that tribute is now being paid on the Sunday afternoon before Labour Day. This is to allow for the earlier commencement of activities on the actual day. Everyone, without exception, was very pleased with the start of activities at 6.30am, beginning with a breakfast being made available.

On the Sunday night, a public meeting was held at George Street, Newtown, and what a meeting it was. Every speaker was well received and listened to most attentively. As he wrapped up the proceedings our Comrade Leader was not just as great as he always is, but on this occasion it can well be said that he excelled himself.

With that meeting being held in what is virtually the heart of Constituency 1, the comrades, friends and supporters of Labour were all fully appreciative of the efforts which were made, and responded with fiery enthusiasm.

The incumbent (mis)representative is quite visibly shaken to the core. But he is not alone. The entire SCHEME UNITY lot now know, for an absolute certainty, that their time ‘in office’ is fast drawing to an end.

As the marchers wended their way through the streets of Basseterre on Monday both participants and onlookers were very obviously pleased with the turnout, and all showed a determination to set right the very sad state of our country’s affairs.

We of this newspaper thank all those who responded to the calls of the leaders of our movement to turn out in large numbers on Monday, and to send a message, loudly and clearly, to the government that their days in power are numbered.

Your response to the calls was encouraging and most heartwarming. You demonstrated, for all to see, that we still have an unshakeable solidarity as a union and as a party, the two arms of our great organisation, The St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.

The nature of the participation in the march also demonstrated that we are a movement of inclusion, that all are welcome to be with us, and that we, as a movement, while predominantly made up of the middle and working classes, are fully appreciative of the contributions of the upper classes and the wealthy, and are prepared to work collaboratively for the fullest possible development of our nation, indeed as we always have throughout the length of our movement’s long history.

As we have pointed out on a number of occasions, we are at a very critical juncture in our nation’s history. One of the numerous and worrying matters with which we MUST contend is SCHEME UNITY’s brazen attempt to remove our members and supporters from the Voters’ Lists.

By your showing on Monday, dear people of St. Kitts and Nevis, you sent a strong, loud and clear message to the SCHEME UNITY government that we are not the kind of people who will lie down and allow them to get away with their evil intentions.

Your turnout on Monday will have engendered in them heightened feelings of desperation, and will have made them more determined to get our people off the lists. But your turnout will also have made them more conflicted, for they MUST now know and understand that ANY shenanigans on their part will incur the full wrath of the people.
The dilemma which they now face is of their own making.

In the face of the most grievous deterioration of democracy in our nation the people on Monday sent to those now in office, loudly and clearly, the message that we fully intend to ‘take back the people’s parliament and restore it to their full representative and deliberative service’.

On Monday you also helped to send the clear message that we are ALL completely fed up with UNITIM and the SCHEME UNITY lot them, that we want a completely free press returned to us, that we wish to once again fully enjoy our, in full, the freedom of expression to which we have long been accustomed in this country.

We of this newspaper, the officers and members of The St. Kitts and Nevis Trades and Labour Union, and the leaders, comrades, friends and supporters of The St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, say a very big THANK YOU, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis for responding so positively, and in such huge numbers, on Labour Day 2018.

Together we SHALL prevail.