On 7th December, 1949, sixty three years ago to the day, Chiang Kai-Shek, a top government official in China, was forced to flee to Taiwan.
Also today in history, in 1960 to be exact, the Ivory Coast claimed its independence from France.
Both events were important in that they signaled the end of something, and the beginning of another.
On 7th December, 2012, the Parliament of St. Kitts & Nevis meets to debate matters that were adjourned from 21st November.
This meeting will signal the end of one thing and the beginning of another.
The Bill to increase the number of Senators from three to six is to be debated. The rationale for the Bill is yet another example of vintage obfuscation and deception by Denzil Douglas. And nobody is buying it.
The real intention of the Bill is: (i) to begin the final stage of the political humiliation and disposal of Sam Condor and Timothy Harris, both of whom have, with much justification, been voicing their disappointment and discontent; and (ii) to set the stage for his own perpetuation as the Ruler of St. Kitts & Nevis by introducing convenient constituency boundary changes and by building around himself a human shield of surrogates, sycophants and intellectual prostitutes.
If he succeeds, it would be the end of Condor and Harris and the beginning of a new dispensation of even more autocratic, oppressive and egregious rule in our nation.
If he fails, it would be the end of him. Not that the end would come tomorrow, but it would signal the beginning of his last days as Prime Minister, in a process which would not take long to be completed.
True, if he doesn’t get the votes needed to pass the Bill, it wouldn’t mean that he doesn’t have other options. But the very fact that his effort would’ve failed would itself be a traumatic, even fatal, blow to his ‘rulership’.
Because, among other things, he would still very much want to punish, and make examples of, Condor and Harris. And that would have serious political implications. It would also ‘mash up’ the Administration.
But even if he didn’t ‘punish’ them or didn’t appear to do so, the divide in the Administration is too wide and gaping, and the discontent too far solidified, for the people of this nation to get the slightest chance of proper, effective governance and direction under the ‘rulership’ of Denzil Douglas. So the Administration is already ‘mashed up’. It has no spiritual or philosophical flesh or foundation left. It is a little more than a rotten carcass.
We all recognize that. And maybe this is one of the reasons Denzil Douglas has sought to establish high-level connections in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and elsewhere, so that, if ‘push comes to shove’, he might be inclined to seek comfort in exile in one of those countries.
But as if the plot wasn’t already thick enough, on Wednesday, 5th December, the Opposition filed a No Confidence Motion with the Speaker and the Clerk of the National Assembly, calling for Denzil Douglas’ immediate resignation as Prime Minister.
And today, I’m advised as I write this article, that the Opposition has filed a modified version of the Motion, to focus more on the call of No Confidence in the Government than on an individual.
As far as I’m aware, this is the first time that such a thing has happened in the history of our country. And on the basis of that alone, Denzil Douglas will have secured for himself a uniquely ignominious place in our history.
In addition, it constitutes a monumental challenge to his legitimacy as Prime Minister, and signals that the end is near for him.
More expeditiously so if it succeeds.
Now on a motion of no confidence in the Government, only elected Members of Parliament are allowed to vote. So if Condor and Harris vote in favour of the motion, along with the four Opposition Representatives, then the motion would carry by 6 votes to 5.
Erskine May Parliamentary Practice (The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament) 24th Edition, 2011, at page 344 states as follows:
“By established convention the Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the official Opposition…In allotting day for the purpose the Government is entitled to have regard to the exigencies of its own business, but a reasonably early day is invariably found.
“This convention is founded on the recognized position of the Opposition as a potential government, which guarantees the legitimacy of such an interruption of the normal course of business.”
The Standing Orders of the National Assembly of St. Kitts & Nevis do not speak specifically to procedural details with regard to confidence motions, but they do state that where matters are not specifically provided for in our Standing Orders, then the usage and practice of the House of Commons of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall be followed insofar as they may be applicable to our National Assembly.
Accordingly, it would appear that the convention that applies to the British Parliament would also apply to ours. And I hope that the Speaker of the National Assembly will act in full appreciation of the constitutional, legislative, political, social and historic importance of this moment.
However you look at it, this is the end of one thing and the beginning of another.
