Opposition politics in St Kitts and Nevis has suddenly become more interesting with the decision of leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), Lindsay Grant, to resign his post.
The prudence of this decision is unquestionably sound. However, there are several lessons in his experience over the past 12 years that are worthy of comment. In addition, this is also a good time to present options that the PAM might want to consider going forward.
PAM’s plight is peculiar among Caribbean opposition political forces, which have been doing relatively better in recent times. In contradistinction, the PAM can easily be described as one of the worse, if not the worst, performing opposition political party in the region for reasons which will be explored here and from which our region can learn much. It should be noted that a strong opposition is an important component of a strong democracy and in places like St Kitts where the opposition is weak, governance suffers.
The appended chart presents the popular support for both major political parties in St Kitts. It can immediately be seen that the St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) has dominated politics since 1993 with ten per cent lead over the PAM, which has now expanded to 15 per cent and reached a high of 23 per cent in 2000. By way of comparison, it should be noted that in Barbados, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) currently maintains a lead of three per cent over the Barbados Labour Party, which conveys the gravity of the PAM’s challenge as it looks towards the 2015 election.
In fairness to the PAM, it has always faced a deficit in its support due to historic and systemic reasons. Notwithstanding, the performance of that organization since the demise of former prime minister Dr Kennedy Simmonds in 1995 has left much to be desired.
Grant faced his first electoral test in 2000 and this was the historic poll where the SKNLP won all eight seats that it contested on the mainland and increased its popular lead over the PAM from 15 per cent to an unassailable 24 per cent. The gravity of this defeat was severe and while it had much to do with the outstanding performance of Prime Minister Denzil Douglas and his SKNLP, the PAM’s Grant could not escape some of the blame.
It was therefore not surprising that a splinter party, the United National Empowerment Party (UNEP), emerged in anticipation of the 2004 election and presented an alternative leadership which was also rejected.
The PAM did manage to capture one seat in 2004. However, Grant was not successful and he joined the slim ranks of Caribbean party leaders who lead opposition political parties from outside Parliament. In Barbados, Clyde Mascoll performed a similar role in 2003 (although being a member of the Upper House) and was able to capture his seat in that election. Grant has not been so fortunate and continues to remain outside Parliament even after the 2010 election.
Mascoll’s demise as leader of the DLP in 2006 was no surprise since he was not the most popular DLP MP. Consistent with this development, I opined that the survival of Grant (post-2010) was unlikely since he was not able to capture a seat, while two others in his party were able to.
Grant’s weaknesses as a politician are perhaps as numerous as Douglas’ strengths, and in both instances commentators can and have been offering varied opinions. The more obvious of his weaknesses relate to his excessively aggressive tone and remarkable ability to miss the point, which he so ably demonstrated in his “concession” speech.
This statement, which should have explained the reasons for his departure, spoke in large part of the shortcoming of the SKNLP and inadvertently highlighted the extent to which he (Grant) was a failure, since one would have thought that a government this bad would have been easy to dislodge.
Grant’s style of leadership is also distinguished by his apparent preference for legal as distinct from political activism. As such, he has challenged the outcome of each election he contested at the level of the party, and in instances at the constituency level.
The impact of his legal activism was best illustrated when he succeeded with court action preventing the government from shifting boundaries, only to be beaten politically within the context of existing boundaries. To be sure, Grant appears not to appreciate the extent to which politics is not a legal battle.
As the PAM looks forward, it might want to consider the gravity of its structural problem with on average one third of the national political pie, which it has made precious little impact on for the past two decades. It therefore needs to grow its support radically and in such circumstances, the most logical option is to add a dissident “chunk” of support from elsewhere. In St Kitts there is such a “chunk” which rests on the island of Nevis.
Interestingly enough, across the political divide the NRP has joined the SKNLP in a union that appears to be a coalition in every way other than its title. This association of the SKNLP and the NRP, which is an historic anomaly, speaks volumes about what is politically possible.
Moreover, in the case of the two remaining parties (PAM-CCM) renders an immediate dividend in that it presents a platform for the ascendency of Opposition Leader Mark Brantley, who is easily one of the federation’s brightest prospects for its future leadership.
• Peter W. Wickham is a political consultant and a director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES).
