BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - OPPOSITION Members of Parliament are describing the Speaker of the National Assembly’s handling of a Motion of No Confidence (MoNC) against him as an “injustice”.
The Notice of MoNC was filed in December of last year and during Friday’s (Jan. 20) sitting, Speaker the Hon. Michael Perkins deemed it “out of order” and gave reasons for his findings.
“Having examined the document, I have found it to be fundamentally flawed, flawed with inaccuracies, errors, frivolity, and most importantly it seriously infringes on several provisions of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly,” explained Speaker Perkins.
During the presentation of his ruling, the Opposition Members obviously affronted made attempts to rise on of order. Contentious debate exchanges ensued with the Opposition threatening to leave and the Speaker asking them to leave.
The Opposition Members vacated the Parliament and shortly thereafter, they appeared on two radio stations including KYSS FM where Opposition Leader Dr. the Rt. Hon Denzil Douglas expressed that he had “very good and strong reasons” to lead the Parliamentary Opposition out in protest of the Speaker’s actions.
He noted that they were left in “dismay and disgust at the injustice and unfairness” that was meted out to them by the Speaker of the National Assembly by disallowing the MoNC.
Dr. Douglas indicated that a portion of the law from which Speaker Perkins read was inapplicable to the matter at hand.
“In fact, he cited specifically Rule 34, Subsection (8), which has absolutely nothing to do with the reason that he was giving for disallowing the Motion to be heard,” Douglas protested.
In an official press statement, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Leader accused the speaker of “holding himself as judge, jury, and executioner”.
The statement further indicates that the Opposition was expecting the Speaker to have recused himself and allow the Deputy Speaker, Senator Akilah Byron, to hear the Motion.
“The St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has declared that the actions of the Speaker and the government present a clear and present danger to the Federation’s democracy and the traditional democratic practices of St. Kitts and Nevis. Such actions can only lead to serious confusion and instability in the Federation,” the statement read.
According to the SKNLP statement, “The party will therefore take the necessary steps to initiate a widespread and powerful resistance to the evident threats and injustices against the democracy of people of St Kitts and Nevis.”
In a subsequent press release, Dr. Douglas explained that his party would engage the attention of the regional media and international organisations including the London-based Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in this regard.
