BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LEADER of the opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) Lindsay Grant declared that his party has been vindicated by the High Court after successfully winning a three-month legal battle against the government over constituency boundaries.
Earlier today (Oct. 19), His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas ruled that a government proclamation proposing a number of changes to the constituency boundaries of St. Kitts is unconstitutional and is therefore rendered null and void.
The ruling came as good news to the opposition party after launching the case against the government in early July of this year, questioning the manner in which the boundaries changes were to be made.
Upon leaving the Basseterre Court House this morning, Grant joined by his deputies Hon. Shawn Richards and Eugene Hamilton in meeting a crowd of cheering supporters dressed in bright gold and screaming “victory”.
The PAM leadership, as well as party lawyers Constance Mitcham, Marguerite Foreman and Vincent Byron, waved their signs of victory from the steps of the Court, responding to the support of the crowd.
In a brief address to the media, Grant said, “I’d like to first of all thank my legal team for the job well done. Today, we have been vindicated. Today is a victory not for the Peoples Action Movement, but it is a victory for democracy in the country, in the region and in the Commonwealth. I’ve always been of the conviction that we were right and today we have been vindicated.”
The PAM leader described the court proceedings as a “long, trialling and difficult process”.
He noted his pleasure in the fact that the conflict associated with the changes to constituency boundaries has been resolved, and stressed that the victory is expected to set precedence in Commonwealth jurisprudence.
“I believe today signals that democracy is the winner in the whole process and that there is a means and an avenue to resolve confrontations and conflicts. I’m happy that we went the proper way in order to resolve this matter, albeit very difficult, albeit very costly for us.”
Grant said today’s ruling sends a clear message to Caribbean leaders that every citizen and political party has the right to redress through the Court and that they are bound by the Constitution of the country.
“It’s something that we had to do and we have done it not just for St. Kitts-Nevis, but we’ve done it for the entire region because this is a landmark constitutional case which will tell Prime Ministers in the entire region that they cannot interfere with the electoral process unjustly and unfairly,” Grant concluded.
