The People's Action Movement (PAM) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

. The party currently holds four (largest share) of the 11 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. PAM operates only in

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

and for the

2022 general election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local ...

is in a 'One Movement' alliance with the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) operating in

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

, following the breakdown of the governing Team Unity alliance. PAM is a member of the

Caribbean Democrat Union The Caribbean Democrat Union is an alliance of moderate, centre-right and conservative political parties and individuals the Caribbean. It is affiliated to the global International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an ...

, the regional affiliate of the

International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...

and shares close links with other centre-right party members in the Caribbean such as the Jamaica Labour Party.

History

The party first contested national elections in 1966, when they received 35.0% of the vote and won two seats. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', pp576-578 They were reduced to a single seat in the 1971 elections, but regained their second seat in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. In the 1980 elections they won three seats, and were able to form a coalition government with the Nevis Reformation Party to oust the

Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), also known simply as Labour, is a centre-left political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is currently in government in the country after winning six of the eleven seats in the 2022 general electio ...

(SKNLP) from power for the first time since

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. PAM leader Kennedy Simmonds led the country to independence in 1983, and the party won six of the eleven seats in the 1984 elections to remain in power. They again won six seats in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. The 1993 elections saw the both parties winning four seats. Constance V. Mitcham, the first women to sit in the national assembly, was elected as a PAM candidate in 1984 and served until 1995. The PAM remained in power, but early elections were held in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, which saw the PAM reduced to just one seat (with Simmonds losing his). They lost their single seat in the

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian preside ...

, but regained it in 2004, with Shawn Richards winning constituency no. 5. In the 2010 elections they won two seats. Lindsay Grant served as Leader of the PAM until his resignation in July 2012. After Grant's resignation, Shawn K. Richards and Eugene A. Hamilton contested for the party leadership in 2012; Richards came out the victor and became 4th Leader of the PAM and Hamilton became Deputy Leader.

Team Unity

Prior to the 2015 general elections, the People's Action Movement formed a political alliance, known as Team Unity, with the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) from sister island

and the newly formed People's Labour Party, which was led by former SKNLP members

Timothy Harris Timothy Sylvester Harris (born 6 December 1964) is a Saint Kittitian and Nevisian politician, who served as the third prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 2015 to 2022. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 August 20 ...

and

Sam Condor Sam Terrence Condor (born in 1949 in Basseterre) is a Kittitian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Condor has a BA of economics from the University of Sussex. He was a member of the Labour Party, and since it g ...

Election results

References

External links

Official website
Political parties in Saint Kitts and Nevis International Democrat Union member parties 1965 establishments in Saint Kitts and Nevis Political parties established in 1965 Conservative parties Republican parties Republicanism in Saint Kitts and Nevis {{SaintKittsNevis-stub