BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and his ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) have urged the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) and its partner organisations to withdraw their statement regarding electoral boundary changes.
In a November 10 communiqué, the CIC, the Christian Council (CC) and the Evangelical Association (EA) warned that “boundary changes so close to the general election...may actually lead to instability”. Certain excerpts from the release were published on SKNVibes and other news outlets.
Douglas explained that he had met last week with the leaders of the three organisations, during which he highlighted that he could not interfere with the work of the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC).
“I was asked in that meeting (Nov. 6) to intervene so as to ensure there would be no changes to the constituency boundaries. I explained that the CBC was an independent constitutionally-mandated entity, and that the Constitution not only required that I, in my capacity as Prime Minister, submit its recommendations to Parliament, but that I do so as soon as possible upon receipt of same,” said Douglas.
“The organisations were grateful for this information since they later explained they had not been aware of this, had checked with their lawyers, and had been assured that, as Prime Minister, I am legally bound, first, to not interfere with the work of the Commission, and then to submit its recommendations to Parliament without delay,” the PM added.
The Kittitian Leader stressed that he would fulfil these responsibilities if the CBC produced another report, and emphasised that there would be nothing “extreme or destabilising” about his actions.
“News reports that the CIC et al have issued a statement predicting “instability” were I to assume my constitutionally mandated responsibility and present the Commission’s recommendations to Parliament completely contradicts their clear statement to me that they fully understand that the CBC is independent,” Douglas noted. “I urge them to share with the rest of the nation, without delay, any special intelligence, insights, or knowledge that they may have regarding the ‘instability’ that awaits us all.
“In the event that they misspoke, a withdrawal of this irresponsible statement would be very much in order.”
Meanwhile, an SKNLP statement called the impartiality of the CIC, CC and EA into question, alleging that a member of opposition party the People’s Action Movement (PAM) had read from their statement on the November 7 edition of radio station WINN FM’s “Inside the News” programme, three days before the release was disseminated for mass consumption.
“While everyone respects the right of all persons to support the party of their choice, the political impartiality of the signatory organisations must be beyond reproach. Whatever his private allegiances, therefore, it is highly inappropriate for the CIC President to publicly and brazenly demonstrate his unabashed allegiance to the Leader of PAM,” read the SKNLP communiqué.
“The nation must question the true motivation for the release of this statement, since it appears that high-ranking members of the CIC, who have deep allegiances to PAM, may be using the Chamber to advance their own pro-PAM agenda.”
The CBC’s July 2009 report was deemed legally invalid due to the unconstitutionality of its feeder committee, the Boundaries Technical Committee. Despite the setback, CBC Chairman Anthony Johnson has announced its intentions to meet anew to review the boundaries.
