A Deputy Prime Minister is calling for politicians in the region to step away from their nepotistic political practices.

Hon. Shawn K.  Richards, who also serves as the minister with responsibility for Education, Youth, Sports and Culture in St Kitts and Nevis, said this type of politics reduced the efficiency of governments.

“We need to create an electorate that doesn’t depend on politicians, but rather make politicians accountable to the electorate,” he said. “I have had the experience like most other politicians within the region where persons depend on you for far too many things.”

The Political leader of the People’s Action Movement  one of the parties in the ruling Tri-Party coalition Team UNITY government Hon. Richards said abandoning this practice will ultimately help to improve transparency and accountability and would be “more beneficial to all of us”.

He said, however, changing the mindset of the electorate may have to start with the youth of the respective countries.

The youth minister said the new mindset cannot be left up to schools to impart to the youth, but all facets of society must be on board.

“It’s not everything that one can teach within the school setting. You have the parents who must help to nurture that self-confidence within children and teach them to speak up and to advocate on their own behalf. The different organisations that we have within the communities … young people must begin to use them as a platform to advocate on their own behalf,” he said.

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