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Hon. Shawn Richards
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Mr. Lindsay Grant, Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), the main opposition party in St. Kitts, says his Party's lone Member of Parliament (MP), the Hon. Shawn Richards, will give up his seat in the House, after it was disclosed that he is also a US citizen.
Mr. Grant made the revelation on WinnFM radio’s popular call-in programme; Voices, as callers voicing their opinions as to what steps should be taken to address the situation where local Parliamentarians are citizens of other countries.
According to the constitution of St. Kitts and Nevis
CHAPTER IV / PART 1 / Section 28 - Disqualifications for Representatives and Senators
(1) A person shall not be qualified to be elected or appointed as a member if he-
a) is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state;
If this section holds true, then any representative or senators within the federation that has dual citizenship should renounce his post.
The debate escalated when the Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, at his last press conference was asked if he was a US citizen to which he replied no. He was then asked if Mr. Grant was a US citizen. Mr. Grant later made a statement saying that he would renounce his citizenship once he is elected. ~~Adz:Right~~
This debate has also been waged in other islands such as Trinidad, Antigua and Dominica. In Antigua in 2003, Mr. Yearwood, a Senator in Lester Bird’s Administration, was forced to resign when it was found out that he had Canadian citizenship.
In St. Kitts, where we are struggling to get our youths to obey the law of the land, only time will tell whether our politicians are above the law.
