BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ON the heels of Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas’ national broadcast last evening (Oct. 14), Lindsay Grant, Leader of opposition party the People’s Action Movement (PAM), will address the nation this evening.
Speaking to SKNVibes, Grant confirmed that he would make a speech tonight at 8:00 p.m. on local radio station WINN FM. He did not reveal the nature of the address but it is likely a response to Douglas, who was highly critical of political parties’ misuse of the judicial system in his broadcast.
“While, as a matter of right, any political party is free to do whatever it wishes as far as the courts are concerned, as a matter of basic political maturity, one would expect political parties to understand how very inappropriate it is to use the courts as a means of getting attention that would otherwise not be forthcoming.
“There should be an instinctual awareness that the courts should never be used in an attempt to create a crisis where no crisis theretofore existed. One would expect from such parties a natural shying away from even a suggestion that the courts be used to frustrate the electorate, test the limits of the Constitution, or confuse the lives and minds of ordinary men and women. Yet there is the filing of one court case, after another, after another,” Douglas said.
The Prime Minister stressed that the government was willing to participate in the judicial matters, but blamed PAM for delaying the completion of the court process. He noted that PAM had refused an appeal hearing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and was continuing to frustrate the process.
“The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal attempted, once again, to hear the appeal right here in Basseterre during the week of November 2. [The government] is ready to cooperate. Those who took these matters to court, however, are again resisting.”
Grant declined to directly respond to Douglas’ comments and, instead, insisted that persons listen to his speech tonight for his possible response.
The back-and-forth by both sides has been a constant feature of the legal drama, which began in July when the Constituency Boundaries Commission released its report outlining changes to several of the constituency boundaries in St. Kitts.
Claiming that the changes were unconstitutional, PAM filed an injunction against the report’s consideration, which did not impede Douglas and Parliament from passing it into law several days later. The opposition party was successful in receiving two other injunctions, one of which prevented general elections from being called under the new boundaries.
Since then, successive judges have heard testimony on the matter. Her Ladyship Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti upheld the first injunction, and the government has made preparations to appeal that decision as well as the other injunctions.
His Lordship Sir Errol Thomas is expected to deliver a ruling on the substantive matters shortly.
