|
|
|
St. Kitts opposition party rebuffs Court of Appeal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas addressing the Nation on Wednrsday night. (Photo by Erasmus Williams) |
| By: Erasmus Williams, CUOPM |
|
|
|
|
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 14TH 2009 (CUOPM) – The main opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) is resisting efforts by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to hear the Government’s Appeal on the rulings of High Court Judge Her Ladyship Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti.
In a minute radio and television broadcast Wednesday night, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas told the nation that 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. And 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,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Two opposition PAM officials have gone to court to challenge a Proclamation passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the Governor General on recommendations from the Constituency Boundaries Commission and to provide for proof that a person seeking election to the National Assembly does not hold dual nationality which is forbidden by the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution of 1983.
“Yet there is the filing of one Court case, after another, after another,” said Prime Minister Douglas, pointing out that the opposition has rebuffed efforts by the Eastern Caribbean Appeal Court to hear the government appeal.
“As a matter of fact, there are, as you know, a number of appeals pending. In an attempt to meet its responsibilities, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal invited the various parties to agree to the hearing of the appeal in St. Vincent. The Government was ready to cooperate. Those who took these matters to Court refused. The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal then attempted, once again, to hear the appeal right here in Basseterre, during the week of November 2, 2009. We are ready to cooperate. Those who took these matters to Court, however, are again resisting,” Prime Minister Douglas disclosed.
In the outgoing National Assembly, the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has seven seats; the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), 2; the Nevis Reformation Party (PAM), 1 and the People’s Action Movement, 1 seat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
