BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has expressed concern that the legal drama regarding changes to the electoral constituency boundaries has gone on for too long.
“I’d hoped that by this time, the nation would have received a ruling from the court…this ruling will have some bearing on how as Prime Minster, and with strict adherence to the Constitution, I assess the various timing scenarios regarding the people of St. Kitts and Nevis exercising their sacred and most important right to vote,” Douglas said in a national broadcast last evening (Oct. 14).
He noted that the extraordinary nature of the cases before the court demands national interest be placed above all other considerations. He also expressed his hope that the court would issue a ruling “without waiting much longer”.
Douglas reassured that although Parliament would automatically dissolve on December 16 of this year, matters of national interest would still continue to be handled by the current members of government.
“All [the dissolution] means is that Parliament will no longer meet on a routine basis for the passing of laws. Ministers of government will continue meeting their ministerial responsibilities. Government departments and agencies will continue functioning just as before, because the Constitution fully expects and indeed requires that the nation’s business continue to be taken care of,” he stressed.
Mark Brantley, Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in the Federal Parliament, said the Prime Minister had “disappointed” in his address to the nation, and made a “critical error” in the delivery of his message.
He claimed that Douglas had made a mockery of the separation of powers and had wrongly used his “pulpit” to push his political agenda.
“I am concerned that [the Prime Minister] referred to the moving of the courts as a crisis, which he blamed the opposition for. Yet despite an injunction, he rushed to table the draft report of the Constituency Boundaries Commission in an emergency session of Parliament on July 9. It was that action taken by him that plunged the country into this constitutional crisis.”
He added, “Rather than offering a way forward in light of all the issues we face, he used this opportunity to play petty partisan politics by seeking to blame the opposition for exercising their constitutional right to redress the matter in the High Court. I believe it was wholly inappropriate for the Prime Minister to use his position of power to apply pressure to the courts.
The legal saga 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, the main St. Kitts opposition People’s Action Movement filed an injunction against the report’s consideration, which failed to impede Parliament from passing it into law several days later.
The opposition party was successful in receiving two other injunctions, however, one of which prevented general elections from being called under the new boundaries.
Since then, successive judges have heard testimony on the matter, with Her Ladyship Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti upholding the injunction preventing elections.
The government has made preparations to appeal that decision, as well as the other injunctions, and His Lordship Sir Errol Thomas is expected to deliver a ruling on the substantive matters shortly.
