Basseterre, St Kitts – The poll issued Thursday night, August 8 by the St. Kitts and Nevis’ Office of the Prime Minister Timothy Harris is “bogus”.
The Bill Johnson poll results issued on Wednesday (August 7) showing that the opposition St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) would win six of the eight seats in St Kitts, enough to form a majority government, has caused panic, not only in the office of prime minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, but also in the three-party coalition and the Peoples Action Movement (PAM) in particular, which holds four of the seven seats in the governing pact.
“That poll from the office of prime minister Harris is bogus. No recent poll was done. (prime minister) Harris is about to conduct a poll,” a credible source seized with the information said Friday.
“The Office of the Prime Minister panicked and instructions were given to Times Caribbean handlers to come up with an appropriate response to the Bill Johnson poll released on Wednesday. You would note that the first response issued from Times Caribbean on Wednesday was a two-year-old survey done by Director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES), Peter Wickham.
The Bill Johnson poll is getting widespread traction in St Kitts and Nevis and overseas and the office of the prime minister was not satisfied with the first response,” the source known to be credible disclosed.
“Obviously taking two bites at the cherry, the Office of the Prime Minister issued a second statement on the matter 48 hours after the Bill Johnson Poll went public,” said the source, pointing out “Why issue a statement on Wednesday another on Thursday? What proper collation of the answers can be done on August 2nd the last day of the poll and a proper and credible analysis done in time to be presented on Thursday 8th said the source.
Another source said too her information is that “that poll is bogus, It is a fake and intended to ease the pressure on Harris and his supporters,” The female in discrediting the Don Anderson poll pointed to the failure of Dr Harris’ office to provide a contact for Mr Anderson, while Mr Bill Johnson provided multiple contacts to the media and other interested parties.
“If the results of his fake poll was true, Harris would have called the election already. What is he waiting on? Has he been feeding fictitious poll information to his cabinet colleagues,” said the female who requested her name not be mentioned. “The three units have not even been meetings as political parties. Its always cabinet or retreat at which only cabinet ministers attend in the absence of the non elected political leaderships of each party,” she said.
The revelation from the Bill Johnson poll that people in St Kitts do not like prime minister Harris has resulted in a quickly-called one-on-one consultation by Dr Harris in his constituency on Thursday. A planned overseas trip by the prime minister and one of his ministers this weekend is still up in the air and could be cancelled, according to a source..
According to another source, several members of the PAM have pointed to the weak leadership of its leader, Deputy Prime Minister Hon Shawn Richards and the other party members in the Timothy Harris cabinet for allowing the prime minister to “out maneuver all of them on a daily basis.”
“PAM supporters do not like him (Harris) also,” one prominent supporter said. “It has been scandal after scandal after scandal and all with this prime minister, who has tainted every Cabinet minister in just four and a half years,” said another PAM supporter in an unsolicited comment, amidst reports that a meeting could be held on the weekend to discuss the possible removal of Harris as Team Unity leader, “although it might be too late considering that general elections could be called in a few months.”
