‘Easton Douglas a dance inna him grave’ - Political turncoat Kari Douglas hints at father’s blessing as green light given from Labourites
Published:Monday | February 17, 2020 | 12:20 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Kari Douglas, the fiery councillor who ditched the People’s National Party (PNP) to join the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) last week, was on the political hustings yesterday in as much a change of colour as tune.
Douglas, who was at a JLP Area Council One meeting at the Stony Hill Technical High School in St Andrew West Rural, told the Labourites that she was happy to be with them.
She hit back at detractors in the PNP who have been critical of her decision to change political allegiance.
“When unnu hear them a disrespect all my father and a talk ‘bout him a turn inna him grave ..., him a dance inna him grave ...,” Douglas, who was in a bright-green dress, said to cheering JLP supporters.
Douglas said that she would leverage her influence and experience to help the party bring its promised prosperity to the people.
“Unnu must know by now, me have some special skills, and I go into certain institutions and partner with the Government and the mayor of Kingston to do some work when it comes on to real physical transformation of our communities and institutions,” she said.
The Trafalgar division councillor, who made headlines last November after a bust-up with medical personnel at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, said that she was willing to play her part in the improvement of the public health system.
She had come under heavy criticism from members of the JLP, including Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, for engaging in an expletive-laden tirade while storming into a doctor’s office and barring her from leaving.
READY TO MOVE FORWARD
Douglas, who had a fallout with PNP functionaries after backing the failed presidential bid of Peter Bunting, emphasised yesterday that she was pleased with the work and philosophy of the Holness administration.
“I have realised that [with] Prime Minister Andrew Holness, by virtue of his policies and by virtue of his dynamism and his ability to understand people and to connect with the masses, the Labour Party must be the right party moving forward,” Douglas charged, much to the delight of bell-ringing supporters.
Douglas also made an appearance at the JLP’s Area Council Two meeting in Clarendon, announcing that she had been “receiving an overwhelming outpour of support” from Labourites.
She promised to work with Pearnel Charles Jr, the JLP’s by-election candidate for Clarendon South East, to ensure that he enters the Lower House.
Douglas formally met with the JLP workers of the Trafalgar division at the party’s Belmont Road headquarters in New Kingston last week.
Surrounded by St Andrew East Rural Member of Parliament Juliet Holness and Kingston Mayor Delroy Williams, Douglas said that she would be moving forward together with the workers to win the division for the JLP.
“We have to keep Mayor Williams as the mayor of Kingston and ‘Brogad’, ultimately, as the prime minister, and that is my only objective right now politically,” Douglas asserted, citing the popular nickname for Holness.