By: Staff Writer
April 26, 2022
The coalition government in St Kitts and Nevis is falling apart at Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris could face a vote of no confidence as early as this week.
Prime Minister Harris already had his Deputy Prime Minister, Shawn Richards and the Premier of Nevis, Mark Brantley, write to the Governor General on their dissatisfaction with Dr Harris and the GG has reportedly taken up legal advice on the matter.
Sources from SKN tell Caribbean Magazine Plus that “Dr Harris’s days are numbered” as DPM Richards and Premier Brantley make up a significant portion of the coalition government representing the People’s Action Movement and the Concerned Citizens Movement, respectively.
Prime Minister Harris, leader of the People’s Labour Party, only make up two of the elected 15 seats in the St Kitts parliament while the PAM has four and the CCM has three as per the last 2020 General Election. So, Harris has nowhere else turn as an early election seems the only possible outcome to stave off an impending vote of no confidence in his leadership.
The tension between PM Harris and DMP Richards was brewing for a while now and came to the fore a month ago, sources tell us. There was a convention for the PAM where DPM Richards and Premier Brantley both gave addresses and publically told the convention goers of their dissatisfaction with PM Harris.
Dr Harris has not made any bold comments on his DPM and Premier’s open rebuke and has decided to remain calm and take advice from others within the PLP and not give into the demands of DPM Richards and Premier Brantley.
It was mentioned to him that he should do a cabinet shuffle to prolong the impact of DPM Richards, but some suggest this may backfire and give more sympathy to DPM Richards’s cause and yet it would still leave Premier Brantley, an elected Premier in his own right, without any formal censure.
DPM Richards, who is also the minister for youth, sports and culture, along with Premier Brantley want PM Harris to give up some of the ministries under his portfolio, primarily that of the ministry of finance. In addition, they have reportedly asked PM Harris to resign within a year’s time, which PM Harris is obviously not considering.
The official opposition Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, through its leader Dr Terrance Drew, have already said that SKN should elect a new PM and fresh elections. SKN elections are officially due to be held in 2025, but it looks like political change will happen in the country well before then.