Tweet

April 13, 20210164

by Staff Writer

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The East Basseterre candidate for the People’s Action Movement (PAM), in the last two general elections, Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, says he will continue to serve the constituency, even as party leaders signal that a new candidate could replace him for the next general election.

Mr. Liburd lost to the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party candidate Dr. Geoffrey Hanley in the 2020 general election and his efforts to overturn the election results in court proved unsuccessful.

“I have never said to anyone that I will not be available for you…I am really humbled by the fact that you still consider me worthy to represent East Basseterre and I will be there for you whenever that time arises, “said Mr. Liburd, now the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on his “Straight Talk” program aired Monday night (April 12), in response to what he described as questions from people who called him privately.

On Sunday (April 11), the featured speaker at PAM’s Convention, Sir Kennedy Simmonds, warned the party against becoming complacent and suggested that a process should begin to identify the next candidate for that constituency.

“Our task as PAM is …by the next election to win back the East Basseterre constituency so our seat count can increase to five, ” said Sir Simmonds.

He continued, “That means that the party has to begin now to identify a strong and fully committed PAM candidate who has the ability to take that seat.”

Sir Simmonds said the party leadership should “delay no further” in starting the internal process of recruiting, selecting, and grooming the next PAM candidate for East Basseterre.

“During the last election, it was obvious that some supporters … chose not to vote for our candidate. That was a grievous fault and grievously it did affect us. It is our duty to correct that mistake in 2025 and to address now whatever concerns or reasons that could have led to our defeat in Constituency #1.”