Former Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas has blamed acts of sabotage for the defeat of his St. Kitts-Nevis Labor Party (SKNLP) in the Feb. 16 general election.
Dr. Douglas in his first news conference since Team Unity, a coalition of three political parties won seven of the 11 seats at stake in the general election, said that the sabotage had also extended to the flights carrying SKNLP supporters back to the twin-island federation to cast their ballots.
The former prime minister told reporters that the St. Kitts-Nevis constitution permits nationals residing overseas to return home to vote and that all political parties had encouraged their overseas supporters to do so in the past.
“The 2015 election was no exception,” he said, noting that while every single plane bringing supporters of Team Unity had arrived on the island with no complications, “a series of highly concerning and downright creepy developments repeatedly botched the arrival of our planes.”
He said the passenger lists changed “mysteriously and repeatedly right before the eyes of Labor supporters as they were waiting to board various flights home.
“Pre-arranged, pre-approved and completely agreed upon stops disappeared from planes’ schedules. Pilots at overseas airports were indicating to us that they had been denied landing rights for various places, while those places were indicating to us directly that there were no problems whatsoever and that the flights in question had, most certainly, been cleared to land.”
“As though this was not enough, a bomb scare was actually called in one of the flights on which our people were scheduled to travel,” he said.
“I can say, without fear of contradiction, that had our flights, as well, been able to land, the St Kitts-Nevis Labor Party would now be continuing the tremendous work which has made St. Kitts-Nevis the bright spot of the region,” he said.
Dr. Douglas was seeking to become the first regional head of government to win five consecutive general elections.
