By: Staff Writer
May 13, 2022
Prime Minister Timothy Harris fired six cabinet ministers and replaced them in less than a week in addition to dissolving parliament, in a move that would have staved off an inevitable vote of no confidence against him.
PM Harris, was staring down the barrel of a vote of no confidence after Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley and his Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards wrote to the Governor General, Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton, that they were tired of PM Harris and wanted a change in leadership.
PM Harris, who led a coalition government, had little choice in if he would have been able to stave off a vote of no confidence since the party he led, the People’s Labour Party, only had two out of the 11 seats in the St Kitts parliament. Richards’s People’s Action Movement had four seats and Brantley’s Concerned Citizens’ Movement party having three seats and the Opposition Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party having the remaining two seats.
In the short space of time between firing Richards and Brantley’s factions however, Harris has appointed a new cabinet, stripping Richards from his post as a result of Richards “disrespect” in not showing to any cabinet meetings in over 90 days.
Brantley was also stripped of his portfolio and said on his Facebook page that this is the “first time” he has ever been fired from anything. In other Facebook comments he added: “It’s time for the mighty army of decent people to speak with a loud voice on Election Day!”
PM Harris has not called an election date yet, but he has 90 days to do so as per St Kitts Constitutional law.
The mechanics of the move to dissolve parliament is one thing, but the other thing is what prompted such outright revolt against PM Harris.
Sources point to this Citizenship by Investment scheme and some of the players in the background manipulating Richards and Brantley so they can get more favourable treatment for their CBI projects and passport approvals.
One source told Caribbean Magazine Plus that part of the demands made to Harris by Richards and Brantley had the latter asking directly for a greater share of the CBI funds for Nevis.
Another source told Caribbean Magazine Plus that a “particular” CBI developer had not liked Harris for “quite some time now” because they could not “control” Harris. This CBI developer even went as far as backing the Opposition SKLP in the 2020 General Election, however to no avail.
PM Harris was a target well before 2022 and the CBI developer had been plotting to have him removed at all costs.
While there is something shady to be said about most CBI developers, this one apparently has been successful in its ambitions to destroy the Harris led government as we are looking at the end of his reign as Prime Minister quite possibly.
Both Richards and Brantley, namely the latter, are popular politicians in SKN. Having them lose their seats in this upcoming election will be no easy task for Harris, considering he hold the least incumbent parliamentarians out of the triad.