Basseterre (24th August, 2009) — After several hours of cross-examination spanning two days, Chairman of the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC), Anthony Johnson, responded to the Claimants allegation that the Constituency Boundaries Report was biased by saying that it was “completely inaccurate, completely false”.

Although the CBC did not seek to have public consultations, there was no legal requirement under the Constitution in this regard, Johnson told High Court Judge Errol Thomas.

Johnson mentioned to the court that when the former administration, PAM, changed the constituency boundaries in 1984, they had no public consultations at all.

He refuted allegations made by Lead Counsel, Mia Mottley QC, that the CBC was more concerned with preserving the advantage of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party than it was with achieving parity in the boundaries.

Johnson also denied the allegations that the changes made in reference to Nevis had more to do with satisfying the concerns of the two opposition members from Nevis on the CBC who were dissatisfied that the Boundaries Technical Committee (BTC) recommended no changes to Nevis.

Johnson admitted to the court that the CBC upheld and discussed boundary changes in Nevis and that two members of the BTC were interviewed after which recommendation were made to change Nevis 9 because it was far greater than the other two constituencies in terms of population and numbers on the voter’s list.

“The discussions were always geared towards satisfying the requirements of the Constitution,” Johnson said.
Mottley also tried to establish bias by claiming that Johnson was a member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and adviser to the Prime Minister.

His law firm, Dublin and Johnson had represented the Prime Minister and others, and he was not a member of the Labour Party at the moment, Johnson said.

Dr. Henry Browne objected to Mottley’s claim of bias by saying that bias cannot be determined on the premise of mere association.

Mottley also alleged that the CBC rushed to complete the report with signatures on July 2 and have it distributed to the Prime Minister and the Governor-General because of the fact that a motion was filed on July 1.

Johnson responded to that allegation by saying that it was “completely and utterly false”.
“I had no knowledge of the filing of any motion,” he said.
 
Beverly Harris, statistician and economist, who sat on the Boundaries Technical Committee, was also cross-examined. She said that the report was jointly prepared by the Committee.

Lawyer Constance Mitcham alleged that the BTC acted with the dictates of the government, a charge which Harris completely denied.

Attorney General Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant also took the stand and was cross-examined by Constance Mitcham who suggested that the whole electoral reform process was controlled by the terms of reference given to it.

The Attorney General completely refuted the charge.