Basseterre , St. Kitts – The long awaited People’s Action Movement’s Campaign for CHANGE 2K9 On the Road to Victory Rally took place this past Saturday night,June 6th at Greenlands Park in Basseterre in the heart of Constituency #2 . The event, which had to be moved from its originally scheduled location at the very last moment amidst security concerns, showed no signs of the hastily improvised adjustment.
The event was packed as Party stalwarts crowded onto the park to witness the event well before the official start. From a mounted stage at the northern end of the park those officiating the proceedings looked out over a sea of gold that stretched the entire distance of the extensive grounds. The crowd was entertained by the popularDJ and radio personality Sweet Sister Sensia along with DJ Yardee and DJ Fresh who also provided the musical accompaniment to the speakers’ presentations before the Deputy Chairperson Ms. Cindy Demming started out with a rousing welcome to the Members and Friends of the People’s Action Movement!
Ms. Demming invoked God’s blessing before giving a short but heartfelt speech which included condolences to the family of the young man slain the preceding Friday evening, Anthony “Bounty” Williams.
The candidates arrived via motorcade that wound its way from party headquarters on Lockhart Street , down Adams Hill into Central Street and up Fiennes Ave. onto Cayon Street . They entered the park from the Cayon Street entrance through a corridor of scores od enthusiastic supporters waving rags and flags and made there way through the throngs greeting those nearest to them before proceeding onto the stage. Ms. Deming introduced each candidate who gave a brief but stirring address to rally the troops.
The crowd erupted when the political leader was announced and initially rushed to the stage expecting his entrance until a crowded Bib Banana truck entered the park at the head of another motorcade signaled his arrival. The throngs lined the path Mr. Lindsay Grant took to the stage and onlookers were left in no doubt that this man will become the next Prime Minister of the Federation.
In a passionate,emotional,heartfelt address Mr. Grant gave voice to the anger of the great mass of citizens about the wanton crime especially murders of young men and lashed out at the tepid and ineffective response from the government. He pronounced a moment of silence in recognition of the more than 150 homicides that have occurred since Labour took office in 1995. The bulk of his presentation dealt with the plans of the soon to be elected PAM government to address such issues as integrity in public life and, of course, the crime situation. He ended his presentation by recognizing the untiring support of his wife Mrs. Wendy Grant whom he called unto the stage.
The evening culminated in a concert featuring Local reggae performer Jah Fire and the popular Jamaican reggae artist Freddie McGregor who entertained the massive crowd with his smooth, conscious ballads calling for peace in our communities. McGregor was followed by Raod March Champions the Grandmasters Band who released a teaser of one of the songs for the Campaign for CHANGE 2k9 called “We Want CHANGE”. The Grandmaseters rocked the thousands in attendance until the wee hours of Sunday Morning.
The youngest ever Member of Parliament and according to a recently conducted independent poll, the most popular Parliamentarian the Hon. Shawn Richards of Constituency #5 was in high sprits when interviewed after the event.
When asked about the complaints that followed an earlier statement by Mr. Grant about “shutting down the town” over boundary changes he pointed out “everyone in St. Kitts knows that it is Labour that resorts to violence to get its way not PAM, just look at tonight everybody drinking out of a glass bottle we don’t need to give big people plastic cups, PAM people don’t throw bottles.”
The event was an unequivocal success and in an interview after his speech Mr. Grant expressed his satisfaction with the event. “I am really pleased and indeed humbled to see the massive crowd here tonight who have come out to show their colours and send a message to the government that the change will come” Grant said.
When asked about the expected boundary changes Grant laughed off any possible impact saying “the Labour government won all 8 seats in 2000 and 7 in 2004 with the boundaries as they are; the very fact that they are hustling to change them now shows just how weak they are, this is the end of Labour!”
When asked about the decision to use a foreign reggae artiste the PAM PRO Wallis wilkin said “PAM has no problems if parties bring in artistes to entertain the masses. What PAM has said and still maintains is that the artistes must be inspiritaional, uplifting and positive artistes much like Freddie McGregor who made a point to send a message of peace and unity. In the past we have seen political parties engage artistes like Assasin and Munga Honorebel who are known for violent,gun-toting,excplicit lyrics and these are not the type of artistes that any political party should indulge,” the PRO continued.
Independent estimates have placed the numbers at Saturday’s rally as over 3000. It was hailed by many political historians as one of the biggest political events in history.
