BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LINDSAY Grant, leader of St. Kitts’ main opposition party the People’s Action Movement (PAM), has boldly announced that his party is ready for the impending General Elections, and has challenged Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas to “ring the bell”.
“We are calling on the Prime Minister to call the elections! To delay any longer will divide our people and result in negative consequences for ordinary people and the country as a whole. The time for grandstanding is passed! Call the elections, Mr. Prime Minister, and let the people decide,” Grant asserted at his party’s emergency press conference, held yesterday (Jul. 16).
The announcement came at a time when PAM has filed a number of injunctions against the Attorney General and Constituency Boundaries Commission to prohibit them from approving or making any use of proposed changes to the nation’s constituency boundaries.
The issue has brought a slew of legal applications and counter-applications before the Basseterre High Court, and most recently the Electoral Commission and Supervisor of Elections have been barred from acting upon the new constituency boundaries.
Despite this, Grant made it clear that General Elections can still be held under the old boundaries, which he claims would ensure that the “moral authority of the law” be returned to the Federation.
“The government’s attempt to change the boundaries at the eleventh hour to their advantage does not give us any confidence that their intentions are honourable. The elections must both be free and fair, or the voice of the People’s Action Movement will be heard loudly and clearly! We are not afraid of a clean, fair fight. Call the elections, Mr. PM. If you are having a problem setting the date, I can set it for you!” Grant declared.
“There is nothing in the Constitution, and absolutely nothing in the Court action, that prevents the Prime Minister from calling the elections today. I want to make it very clear that the injunction constrains the Supervisor of Elections and the Electoral Commission from conducting an election on the new boundary changes. This does not prevent the Prime Minister from calling the elections on the existing boundaries,” he stated.
Legal counsel for PAM Vincent Byron explained that the old boundaries are in existence until the Parliament is dissolved, which would signal the use of the new constituency boundaries. He stated, however, that “PAM’s position is very clear: When our political leader challenges the political leader to call elections now, we expect that any election would be held on the old boundaries as they existed”.
Prior to PAM’s press conference, members of the government’s legal counsel held a press conference at Government Headquarters and claimed that if elections were to be held under the old constituency boundaries, they may be subject to challenge later as being “unconstitutional”.
Grant informed that he has formally written to the Caribbean Community Secretariat, the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth Secretariat requesting the presence of international observers for the elections to ensure their fairness.
“We are not stalling the elections; we do not have any stalling tactics. We want an election that’s free and fair, and an election that, at the end of the day, the better party would win under a free system of elections.
“The people do not care about changes to boundaries; they care about a change of government... What is the PM afraid of? That the injunction is working? The time has arrived, Mr. PM, call the elections now,” he stated.
