"Embrace 2020 with courage, hope, decisiveness, integrity, discipline and focus," Dr Denzil Douglas

With general elections to be held in a few months, Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Dr Denzil L Douglas in his New Year Message Wednesday told the Nation that his St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) has the formula for success with its team of candidates and called “for the opportunity to complete the great work that we started that was interrupted five years ago.”

“It is with an immense sense of hope and high expectation that I greet you on this New Year’s Day. Today we stand at the dawn of a New Year, but not just any ordinary year. Today we stand at the dawn of an iconic year – the year 2020. It is my firm belief that the Leap Year of 2020 will be a year of the boundless possibility that will represent a defining moment in the history of our Nation. This is a year when you win!

“You see, there comes a time in the life of every Nation when it stands at the crossroads of history and must choose which way to go. There comes a time in the life of every Nation when, in the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr., it must choose between “breaking the ‘isness’ of our present” to which we are tragically bound, and REACH for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that will usher in the joyous daybreak of true peace, true kinship, real progress and real change that will take us to the next level,” said Dr Douglas.

The former prime minister declared that the year 2020 “will be the year when right must overcome easy; when hope must overcome despair; when the redemptive good must overwhelm strife, malice and victimisation; when the guardians of past must be replaced by the pioneers of the future and when the people-centred must build-up what the self-centred have torn down.”

Dr Douglas boldly declared that 2020 would be that year in the life of St Kitts and Nevis and even the world. “2020 will be the year when our nation, every citizen, every resident, every man and woman will make the choice to ensure that unarmed truth and wounded justice are crowned triumphant over the forces of nihilistic deception and corruption.”

“Our nation is at a critical decision point, and we must choose,” said Dr Douglas, who invited the people of St Kitts and Nevis to contemplate about the direction St Kitts and Nevis is presently taking.

“The last five years have not been easy for our people. In a climate where rampant corruption, nepotism and victimisation have brought our political discourse to a new and unprecedented low; where misguided individuals are being paid to keep the peace and trained and ranking police officers are paid to stay at home; where law-abiding citizens are brutalised and arrested for standing up for their rights; where gender-based violence and violence against women has reached dangerous levels; where amidst an epidemic of chronic non-communicable diseases which are taking the lives of young and old alike, our primary healthcare system is failing; and in a flagging economy that has led to increased levels of under-employment and unemployment, there are many who are hurting. All across our Federation, there is a palpable sense that we are a nation in decline and we are moving in the wrong direction,” said Dr Douglas.

Dr Douglas also pointed out that the widespread sense of social and economic decay is concomitant with a galloping dictatorship that has broken down the constitutional order of St Kitts and Nevis and has impeded the social and economic development.

“The rule of faction has replaced the rule of law in our country to the detriment of the social and economic interests of ordinary people. Our systems of good governance have been under attack, with rampant nepotism stripping away at our systems of accountability. Today we are the only country in the world where public officials in high office are found guilty of breach of trust and misappropriation of funds belonging to their client and society continues as normal.

Today we are the only country in the world where our Prime Minister has been called by name and by the office in scandal after international scandal yet this has failed to trigger public condemnation of his fellow Cabinet Ministers. Today we are living in a country where Integrity in Public Life has eroded, especially as government ministers are allowed to form companies to compete unfairly with our local businesses, even our taxi-drivers,” Dr Douglas pointed out.

He further noted that St Kitts and Nevis is a nation where unbridled victimisation has undermined the quality and delivery of public services and where the International Monetary Fund report for 2018, still remains hidden and the government has gone as far as to prevent the conduct of the annual assessment consultations for 2019.

Dr Douglas further pointed out that St Kitts and Nevis is a nation where hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on projects that have been deliberately inflated beyond their time value, and where the National Budget lacks any serious strategy to promote growth and development of the people and the Nation.

“The present administration has been a poor custodian of the public interest, a poor steward of all the gains that were made under the former Labour administration,” Dr Douglas said.

Making reference to an old Native American saying that ‘Great leaders make decisions not just for the present generation but seven generations from now,’ Dr Douglas said it stands to reason then that great leaders would not be preoccupied with merely securing two terms in office only to enrich themselves and their families and close friends.

“Yet this is the dominant leadership style of the present administration. It is no small wonder then that there is no outstanding legacy piece about which the present administration can boast that has brought tangible benefits to the people,” he said.

Dr Douglas is of the firm view that the New Year of 2020, brings with it an incredible opportunity to take St Kitts and Nevis into a fresh direction under new leadership.

He said he was satisfied that the people of St Kitts and Nevis have had the chance to compare and contrast and he is persuaded that the people, whenever they are given the opportunity in the impending General Elections, will move definitively and overwhelmingly to restore the country to the path of good governance, growth and real progress and prosperity.

“Over the last five years, The NextGenSKN Labour Party has undergone a process of renewal that has led to the emergence of a rebranded and reformed Party with an improved outlook. We have deliberately taken the extra step of signing a Code of Ethical Conduct that consecrates our commitment to serving all our people with fairness, decency and honour. As we stand on the dawn of a new year, and a new decade, we of the NextGen SKN Labour Party are fully committed to your well-being and your aspirations because IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!” Dr Douglas emphasised.

He boldly stated that the NextGenSKN Labour Team has “the plans, ideas, the experience, the competence, the compassion and the proven track record of success to relieve the people of St Kitts and Nevis from the vagaries and abuses of the status quo.”

“We have already outlined several of our plans that have given the people of St Kitts and Nevis a glimpse into the future under a new NEXGENSKN Labour administration. We will deliver a package of fiscal incentives to put savings in the pockets of ordinary citizens and stimulate our small businesses. We will revolutionise health care by constructing a brand new state-of-the-art general hospital. We will construct 2000 affordable houses. We will provide a grant of 25,000 to all eligible students wishing to attend university, and we shall reduce the interest rate on student loans at the Development Bank of St Kitts and Nevis.

We will put St Kitts and Nevis on a sustainable, climate-resilient path to economic growth and prosperity. This is what true empowerment and a true people-centred agenda looks like. A new Labour administration will deliver a future that is bright with hope and opportunity and bring to an end the isms and schisms that have overwhelmed our country. We have every intention to implement these programmes and plans that we have announced in a responsible way, in a structured way and in a sustainable way that will have a lasting impact on the people of St. Kitts and Nevis down through the generations,” Dr Douglas enunciated.

Reaffirming that that is what “real, inter-generational leadership is all about,” Dr Douglas said the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party is one that cares about legacy.

“For eighty-seven years, we have been and still are the strongest Party in the entire Federation. We will bring inter-generational leadership to the people of St Kitts and Nevis with a strong and compelling vision that will have maximum impact on improving the lives of our people. Our team has the youth balanced with experience to deliver to the people of St Kitts and Nevis the kind of future that you desire and deserve. By putting people first, we will empower all families across the Nation to build inter-generational wealth and bring St Kitts and Nevis to a higher level of inter-generational prosperity,” he added.

“As we stand on the dawn of this iconic year of 2020; as our Nation stands at this crossroad – let us contemplate our choices and choose wisely and responsibly! My word is my bond! Our Next-Gen SKN team will deliver by God’s grace, I guarantee it,” said Dr Douglas as he wished each and every citizen and resident “a very blessed, prosperous, healthy and productive 2020 to each of you and your families! Embrace 2020 with courage, hope, decisiveness, integrity, discipline and focus! Happy New Year!”