BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER a few weeks of political dormancy, another development in the boundary changes has surfaced, as members of the Federal opposition benches have brought yet another legal charge against the work of the Constitutional Boundaries Commission (CBC).
News reaching this media house indicates that Leader of the Opposition and representative of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) the Hon. Mark Brantley along with lone Parliamentary Representative for the People’s Action Movement (PAM) the Hon. Shawn Richards filed yesterday (Nov. 25) for leave to undertake a judicial review on the work and composition of the CBC.
One member of the team representing both parliamentarians in this matter, Vincent Byron, told SKNVibes that they are seeking an order of the Court to restrain the work of the CBC and prohibit the use of any report from the Commission until the matter is heard.
Byron made it clear that this injunction would not delay the calling of General Elections, and informed that the grounds put forward emerged from a series of events regarding the CBC that took place over the last four weeks.
In the case of Shawn Richards, he was written to by the Chairman of the Commission on October 26 to make recommendations to the number and delimitations of the constituencies on the behalf of his party, within seven days. Richards responded, requesting more time and a special request for up-to-date demographics, as opposed to relying on data from the 2001 census.
Richards complained that he received 24 hours extension and did not receive current population information for his party to make recommendations. He said that “without the benefit of information on inhabitants, one would be acting outside of the Constitution by simply using the voters list”, adding that data from the 2001 census “would not be accurate” as it would not account for shifts in population, new housing developments and migration patterns.
Counsel Byron explained that such consultation may be unfair.
“In Judge Thomas’ decision, he indicated that he thought that Richards did not have a right to be consulted, but written correspondence from Richards, on the advice of counsel, we told Johnson that if the Commission voluntarily consulted someone, then they had to do so in a fair manner...consultations must be proper and must be adequate.”
He continued: “They could not say that they are going to consult and then make a charade or mockery of such an exercise, because then it would be unreasonable and irrational.”
Added to that, last week saw the resignation of two of the CBC members: Hon. Vance Amory and Senator Michael Perkins, both of the CCM, who made similar complaints about the time in which and the data with which the constituency boundaries were to be reviewed.
Brantley had since written to the Governor-General informing that he still reserves the right to nominate two new members to the CBC. But a written response from the Attorney-General, on behalf of the Governor-General, indicated that the work of the Commission would continue despite the two vacancies. Questions of the composition of the CBC were raised by Brantley as he argued that the Commission is not properly constituted.
Rumours abound that the CBC would be producing a new report to be laid in Parliament shortly, and, if the injunction is granted, the laying of any report would be prohibited.
According to lawyer Byron, “There seems to be an inordinate haste [because] the Commission met, by my last count, some seven or eight times in the past two weeks. And with less than four weeks to go when Parliament dissolves, Brantley is concerned that a report may be issued by the Commission without him being able to appoint individuals who would have an input in representing members on the opposition benches.”
At press time, the applicants were seeking to get the matter heard before the court to determine whether they would be granted leave for judicial review and if the injunction would thereafter be granted.
