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Sabotage, airplanes, and betrayal are words still being bandied about 14 days after the election in St. Kitts by supporters of the new opposition; while unity, hope, change and family are the most common words heard from supporters of the new majority.

On Feb. 16, 2015, the people of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis elected for the first time in 20 years a change in governmental leadership. And it took the coming together of three political parties to accomplish the arduous task. That’s right. Three political parties put aside past political differences and came together to form a “strategic coalition” they called “Team Unity.”

The coalition captured seven of the 11 constituencies on election day. The People’s Action Movement (PAM) won in four constituencies, while the Concerned Citizen’s Movement (CCM) won in two. The People’s Labour Party (PLP) won only a single constituency.

The leader of the coalition, the Honorable Timothy Harris, was a former prominent member of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, serving as the party’s chairman at one point, until he recently and controversially left the party to form the People’s Labour Party.

Harris was chosen as Team Unity’s leader after the results of a survey conducted by the group before the election. He now assumes the role of prime minister of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis. This role had been held by the Honorable Denzil Douglas for 20 years, dating back to 1995, when Harris briefly served as his Deputy Prime Minister. The new Deputy Prime Minister is the Honorable Shawn Richards, the leader of PAM. The Honorable Vance Amory of CCM serves as the Premier of Nevis. The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) won a total of three constituencies, and their coalition partner, the Nevis Reform Party (NRP), won one constituency. Members of SKNLP and NRP now forms the new opposition. A role that members of SKNLP have not been in for 20 years.

Team Unity assumes power during a unique time in the Federation’s history. The Federation has transformed from sugar exports being its main economic driver to the Citizen’s By Investment (CBI) program, and tourism being its main economic revenue generator and driver. It is one of the-fastest growing economies in the region.

At the same time, the CBI program has come under international scrutiny for its sometimes laissez faire attitude in issuing passports to individuals with questionable backgrounds. In an attempt to fix the program, the former Prime Minister recalled thousands of passports to address some of the concerns brought by the international community. Douglas also traded more than a thousand acres of SKN land to settle debts incurred by the government, which angered many in the community.

Team Unity, according to its manifesto, was born out of the reality that St. Kitts and Nevis has become a nation divided by politics. This sad reality of political tribalism has failed to create better conditions for the nation’s people. Instead, over the last 30 years since Independence, we have seen the steady withdrawal from a unified approach to development that we promised each other upon gaining Independence in 1983.

Team Unity understands it is time to put aside personal and political differences and put the people of St. Kitts and Nevis first. Unity members in the community can be heard addressing each other as family, as they believe the only way to move the Federation forward is in a unified approach with family-like love showed toward one another.

As part of its platform, Team Unity has promised to bring about substantial changes to the Federation — starting with a repeal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on food, medicine and funeral expenses. The coalition also plans to reform the controversial, yet profitable CBI program. Furthermore, there are plans to reform the electoral process, which is said to include term limits for the prime minister, a point of contention among many Douglas detractors who felt he had served for too long.

Team Unity also plans to create more opportunities for young people to become entrepreneurs. The motto for the coalition, Prosperity for all, Justice for all, and Accountability for all, is expected to be a governing doctrine for the group. After speaking with some coalition members on a recent trip to the island, they seem intent on addressing some of the issues that has divided the community for so long.

Election Controversies

Just one month before the general election, the Electoral [Constituency] Boundaries Commission changed the election boundaries without consulting the opposition political parties. This was viewed by the opposition (now the majority) as an attempt to gerrymander the constituency’s boundaries to ensure that SKNLP retained a majority in the then upcoming election. It required an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London just days before to cause the Feb. 16 elections to be conducted on the existing boundaries. Unity Coalition members say it was clear in their minds that if not for the Council’s ruling in London the election results would have been drastically different.

According to some reports, two planes carrying SKN nationals returning to Saint Kitts and Nevis to vote on election day were delayed at their point of origin because of apparent errors in the Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS), more commonly known as the flight manifest lists. Rumors have circulated throughout the island that the list was tampered with in an apparent effort to delay the aircraft’s transport because “most of the passengers were supporters for the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.” However, as of this post, those claims have not been substantiated.

Sources with intimate knowledge of one location where chartered planes were flown in from have commented on the seemingly unorganized way in which the charters were organized, which lead to chaotic scenes at pick-up locations, saying that is more than likely what contributed to the delays of the two jets. As a result of the delays, passengers did not arrive on time to participate in the election.

Whether or not the claims are true, it is clear that the timely arrival of the airplanes could have affected the outcome of the election. Especially, when, reportedly, one constituency was decided by four votes and another was reportedly decided by a total of 26 votes. Both of those constituencies were decided in favor of members of the Political Action Movement, members of the Unity Coalition, helping them to attain a 7-4 majority.

Another big source of controversy during the SKN elections that drew regional scrutiny was the actions of the Supervisor of Elections Wingrove George. Voters waited for almost 20 hours before any official news of the election was released. It also took George two days to declare the official results of the election. In addition, the elections office stopped counting votes at one point, stating in a press release that it was to give rest to employees performing the task.

In an election with approximately 30,000 voters, both outside observers and residents questioned why the process took so long and why George refused to publish the results for two days. The Prime Ministers of the Bahamas, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago criticized the move.

Betrayal

According to sources, Harris left the SKNLP because Douglas was not ready to step down or support him for party leadership. Speaking with members of the SKNLP community, many felt betrayed by Harris’s decision to not only leave the party, but then to form his own party and form a coalition with the opposition, especially as he was a former SKNLP chairman.

However, other reports say Harris had grown disillusioned with the way Douglas was running the party and was no longer in agreement with the way in which governmental matters were handled, causing him to branch out on his own.

Change

Depending on who you speak to on the island of Saint Kitts, you will get a range of opinions about the change in power. The news of the Unity Coalition winning the majority of the seats shocked many, while others fully expected it. Now weeks later, after the new government has been sworn in and its cabinet is taking shape, feelings are still unsettled among many. While most residents seem to have an optimistic view of the future of the Federation, some are still wary of the new government.

As with anything, time will tell. Will the Unity Coalition really be able to unify the fractured SKN community and move the Federation forward prosperously or will the old time saying, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” ring true?