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Posted: Monday 23 October, 2006 at 4:07 PM
Press Release


    ~~Adz:Right~~London, England (October 23, 2006): One of the issues that enlivened Saturday night's public consultation in Cardiff, Wales was the representation of women in St. Kitts and Nevis politics.

    One woman swore she knew what was hindering women from making a run for political office. "Men like you," she affirmed. She directed her censure at one man in particular.

    When Elvin Bailey - the chairman of the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) meeting - directed the attendees" attention to the issue of women, one man wound up in her cross hairs. The man told Mr. Bailey, "Women? They should be in the house cooking, man." The man then guffawed for a good 12 seconds, said something inaudible, and guffawed some more.

    At this moment, Franklyn Parris, the woman's husband, spoke up. "I do believe there should be more chances for women to stand up in politics." Mr. Parris made this remark to a soundtrack of more guffaws by the man. He continued - "I think they do a good job and they should be given that chance" - and so did the soundtrack.

    The man stopped laughing and asked, "Well, what's stopping the women back home from getting involved?" That's when Mrs. Parris issued her "Men like you" indictment, and an outburst of laughter ensued.

    ~~Adz:Left~~The fact is, as ERCC member Clement "Bouncin" Williams pointed out after the outburst, "You go to a political party convention, and the majority of the delegates in the political party convention are women. The majority of the voters are women. The majority of the front of the party political campaign are women."

    Mr. Williams continued, "How come the women don't vote for the women?" ERCC member Clifford Thomas added, "As Mr. Williams said, when you have a constituency branch organized, it's the women who are in the forefront. They are the ones who select the candidates so if a woman wants to become a candidate, she has a lot of women to support her, but you don't get that happening."

    Mr. Parris asked, 'Is it the fact that they've been kept in that position for so long that they don't feel that they can go to the top, they can only go so far, and they just haven't got the confidence, or the educational, mental...?"

    Mr. Williams interjected, "No, they are more educated than a lot of us."

    Mr. Parris continued, "...or the mentality to..."

    "There are some powerful woman down there, man," a man interjected.

    Mr. Bailey said, "Look at Margaret Thatcher, but for some reason that has not caught on. Israel had Golda Meir; that has not caught on. Dominica had [Dame] Eugenia Charles; that has not caught on, and you could list them, but it has not caught on...So we'll wait to see if that catches on."

    ~~Adz:Right~~That night, another controversial point was the fact that political parties sometimes provide plane tickets to overseas Nationals to encourage them to vote back home. A few attendees characterized this as bribery, while others characterized it as merely an incentive.

    Mr. Williams said, "What we are looking for is whether it should be permitted or not. It is difficult to say who is coming on whose ticket and where they are going to put their vote. Some people have claimed that they came and they went to the Bay Front, had a swim, and played Dominoes for the whole day, and didn't vote. There is enough statement of that fact. There are statements of "I came on this flight and I voted the other way."

    He added, "So it's an open game and all the political parties play it as well as they could, depending on the finances they have available."

    Concerning campaign finances, it was felt that the sources of donations should be declared. One man recommended that sources must be declared to the electoral commission, even if they are not revealed to the general public. Funding from drug dealers and terrorists ought to be off limits, others recommended.

    Other recommendations were that all citizens should be allowed to contest an election, including a minister of religion. As it stands in the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution under the section entitled Disqualifications for Representatives and Senators, "A person shall not be qualified to be elected or appointed as a member if he is under...allegiance...to a foreign power or state; is a minister of religion; is an undischarged bankrupt...is a person certified to be insane or otherwise adjudge to be of unsound mind under any law; or is under sentence of death..." Some people proposed that if someone, or one of his or her parents, was not born in Saint Christopher and Nevis the person should be able to run for elections, but not for a "top dog" post, such as the prime minister or premier position. 

    One man said that his own son and daughter should not be permitted to run for elections because they were not born in St. Kitts and Nevis.

    ~~Adz:Left~~With regard to the qualification of women in the political system, Mr. Bailey asked the attendees, "Some persons have said to us that there are three nominated seats in the House, in Parliament, and that a portion of that should be reserved for women. What say you?"

    "No," said Cleaver Warner Short, "let them fight for it. Let them fight for it. They have to achieve it."

    "You should have a quota system," said one man. "You could have a quota," said another man, "but they have to be qualified."

    "You must achieve it," added Mr. Short. "Don't give nothing; you must achieve."




    Contact: Valencia Grant (869-762-6177)



     

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