PAM Chairman: It is not automatic Harris will be PM if coalition wins a second term

Chairman of the co-ruling People's Action Movement (PAM). Jonel Powell said Thursday the PLP/CCM/PAM coalition has no agreement the coalition leader and prime minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris will serve another term as prime minister if PAM wins a majority of the seats in the next general elections.

Asked by a caller on Freedom 106.5 FM's Issues programme on Thursday, Mr. Powell first confirmed that PAM will not field a candidate in St Christopher 7 - the constituency that Dr Harris currently represents in the National Assembly and will support his candidacy in the next general election

"As to the prime ministership, no, it is not automatic that if Unity is returned to office Dr Harris becomes prime minister. However that is a choice that we - the coalition partners - will determine who we think is the best person to lead the coalition and the government," Powell said.

The next general election is due in a few months.

In the 2015 General Election, the Labour Party lost two St. Kitts seats it held – St. Christopher 1 by 4 votes and St. Christopher 4 by 26 votes.

The SKNLP is the largest single party in St. Kitts and Nevis, gaining 11,897 votes to the Peoples Action Movement (PAM), 8,452 votes; the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) 3,951 votes; the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), 3,276 votes and Timothy Harris’ People’s Labour Party (PLP), 2,723 votes.

Seatwise in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, the PAM holds 4 seats, the SKNLP, 3 seats, the CCM, two seats; the NRP and the PLP, 1 seat each.

Harris’ three-party coalition is made up of the PLP, CCM and PAM.