BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC), the St. Kitts Christian Council and the St. Kitts Evangelical Association have declared that any immediate boundary changes may lead to national insecurity.
A joint communiqué issued yesterday (Nov. 10) read, “Our organisations wish to express our concern that any electoral boundaries review prior to the next General Election runs the risk of heightening political tension and promoting instability...we are of the view that any course of action that brings boundary changes so close to the general election will not enhance stability but may actually lead to instability.”
In July of this year, the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC) produced a report outlining changes to the electoral limits in St. Kitts. Parliament adopted the report and passed it to Governor-General His Excellency Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, who signed a proclamation legalising the new boundaries.
Claiming the changes would go against the rules of natural justice, opposition party the People’s Action Movement (PAM) filed a legal challenge against the report. After a 13-week trial, His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas declared the proclamation “null and void”, explaining that the CBC’s feeder committee, the Boundaries Technical Committee, was unconstitutional and of no legal effect.
Despite the setback, the CBC is meeting once again to review the boundaries. SKNVibes obtained an October 26 letter by CBC Chairman Anthony Johnson that was distributed to representatives of various political parties, outlining its intention to begin anew.
However, this course of action does not sit well with the three organisations, which are also the pilots of a Code of Conduct for the Political Process. They urged those involved to take a “stop, look and listen approach” so that love for country would prevail over partisanship ideals.
“We appeal to the CBC, the government, and opposition parties to reflect carefully on the fact that the constitution provides for the automatic dissolution of the National Assembly on December 16, 2009, if not earlier dissolved. We are a mere five weeks from that date.
“We have just come through a prolonged period of litigation and judgments of the High Court. Yet it appears that we are again embarked upon another round of proposed boundary changes. Our country deserves to be spared another period of uncertainty insofar as our citizens, the potential voters, are concerned,” noted the release.
