The first letter that was released to the media on Tuesday 5th February, 2013, called on the incumbent Parliamentary Representative, Mr. Sam Condor to resign, given his recent decision to step down as Deputy Prime Minister, in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, and other activities in which he is said to have been engaged. Condor is also the Deputy Leader of the ruling Labour Party.
Douglas in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon said he was aware of the letter and he described them as a legitimate group and that he knows them as comrades of the party but that he will await further determination and input from the national arm of the political organization. He admitted that the developments are still very fluid and would not want to comment too much on the issue. He however stopped short from endorsing or confirming that they were the official Executive.
Also on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Condor called into a local radio station to disputing that the first letter was not authentic, indicating that the group that dispatched the correspondence has no official status within the party structure and certainly not within the West Basseterre Constituency.
He did however admit that the last Chairman of the official branch, Mr. Jason Hamilton, has since left the post and has not been at recent meeting, following his appointment as Attorney General. This is the branch he revealed with which he meets on a regular basis. It was also this group that took the decision to issue its own letter condemning the other individuals who tried to portray themselves as the official Executive.
Condor also acknowledged that the letter dispatched to the media on Wednesday 6th February, 2013, was one from the bonafide Executive Committee and one that he endorsed as a true expression of the group.
In their letter, the group said, “It has come to the attention of the West Basseterre Executive that a group of persons describing themselves as the Executive of the West Basseterre Labour Party Branch has issued a press release dated February 5, 2013 calling for the resignation of our Parliamentary Representative, the Honourable Sam Condor from Parliament and from the Labour Party…”
The letter went on to list the following grounds:
- 1.that he had embarked on a campaign to ”undermine and destabilize the Government”;
- 2.that he had abandoned “the Constituency and the Labour Party”; and
- 3.that views which he has expressed recently were not shared by the West Basseterre Branch members and were “expressed without general consultation with the majority of members who had elected him to serve as their representative”.
It continued, “With the exception of the former Chairman, we are certain that every member of our 12-person Executive stands firmly behind Mr. Condor; and none of us was, is, or will be part of that illegal group.”
It also stated that the leader of the Labour Party, the Hon Dr. Denzil Douglas, is fully aware of the persons who are the membership of our Executive. Indeed, our most recent meeting with the Leader was held on January 7th 2013, at which said meeting we reaffirmed our total support of and solidarity with the Hon. Sam Condor.
“We are of the opinion, that if the Leader, Dr. Douglas, is aware of that illegal group, far worse, if it has his endorsement and support, then he would be involved in the breach of the Party’s constitution and of the rules. In the process, he would be guilty of dividing, undermining and destabilizing the Labour Party.”
Douglas however denied having such input.
“The real Labour Party does not have a history of seeking to silence and dismiss utterances and acts of conscience and commitment to fundamental principles of both Party and Movement,” stated the letter from the West Basseterre group.
“The ancestors and the stalwarts of Labour past and present would be deeply aggrieved at the injustice being meted out against genuine supporters of the philosophy and cause of Labour. Every step of the way, Mr. Condor has been in full consultation with us, with his constituents, with the Party Executive and with the country in general. The ancestors and genuine, conscious and conscionable stalwarts of Labour will embrace this Honourable gentleman, Mr. Sam Condor; and history will absolve him. Of that we are absolutely sure.”
Below is the first letter sent out to the media via the “Other” West Basseterre Executive:
Letter to Sam Condor
The West Basseterre Labour Branch has noted with concern that the Honourable Sam Terrance Condor who was elected to the Federal Parliament as a candidate contesting the 2010 elections on a St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party ticket in West Basseterre, has recently resigned as a Minister of the Labour Party Government.
Mr. Condor recently embarked upon a course of conduct whereby his actions were designed to destabilize and undermine the Government.
The views of Mr. Condor were never the views of the general constituency branch and were undertaken as a personal narrative expressed without general consultations with the majority of the members who had elected him to serve as our representative.
By his own actions he has abandoned the people of constituency #3 and the party and is now indicating that he is an independent. The Branch is demanding therefore that he immediately resign from the party which he no longer associates himself and also resign as the elected representative of constituency #3 as he no longer represents the views and opinions of the vast majority of constituents that gave him the legitimate mandate to serve.
As a result of the recent turn of events the Branch has taken a decision to replace Mr. Condor as the candidate to contest the next general election as a representative of the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party whenever that election is called.
The Branch has accordingly started the process of finding the new candidate to represent the Labour Party as a representative for West Basseterre.