Former Prime Minister of SKN and Leader of the St. Kitts – Nevis Labour Party Dr. Denzil Douglas on a recent edition of “Issues” said that the issue of crime cannot be solved by playing a political blame game.
In responding to a question posed by Freedom Fm’s co-host Maurice Flaunders, as to whether or not he would do as Team unity had done while in opposition in blaming crime on the Prime Minister and the commissioner of Police, Dr. Douglas said that crime is not a political football; and that he would not be hypocritical in blaming the Unity Government led by Prime Minister Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris.
During the recent elections while in opposition, officials of Team unity blasted the then Denzil Douglas administration for the violent crimes, especially gun related murders. The newly appointed Press Secretary Clecton Phillip as well as Times Caribbean singled out every murder and blamed the Douglas administration for crime. The Team Unity platform speakers pointed to the surging crime wave and viewed it as the responsibilities of the Douglas Government.
However on “Issues”, Dr. Douglas said crime must be a priority of the Harris Government but that he would not say it was solely their responsibility. He noted that recent press releases and press conferences put on by the Unity Government to address the current crime wave in St. Kitts – Nevis showed that they wanted to address the crime situation in a holistic way.
Douglas said that this was a far cry from blaming the Prime minister and the commissioner of Police, as was done in the past. In opposition Douglas is pointing fingers at the inability of the present Government to do anything about crime. “They had all the answers in opposition; but now they’re in government they are failing to make a dent in crime” said Douglas.