BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COURT proceedings in the latest action brought against the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC) moved expeditiously yesterday (Dec. 1), as two opposition parliamentarians took the stand for cross-examination.
In a four-hour hearing yesterday, Hon. Mark Brantley, leader of the Opposition and parliamentary representative of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement (CCM), along with Hon. Shawn Richards, lone parliamentarian for the People’s Action Movement (PAM), were questioned by lawyers representing the government.
Both opposition parliamentarians sought judicial review of the work and composition of the CBC last Tuesday (Nov. 24), following the resignation of members Hon. Vance Amory and Senator Michael Perkins, both of whom are CCM politicians.
Before the duo took the stand, their lead counsel Mia Mottley QC requested disclosure of the minutes and tape recordings of the CBC meetings. She attempted to dig further by asking whether or not a report from the CBC has been prepared, settled and signed and if so, whether it has been presented to the Governor-General and the Prime Minister.
Mottley sought permission for nearly four days to make written submissions at the end of the case, as she deemed it “virtually impossible” to draft affidavits and make full submissions within the strict timetable.
In a swift rebuttal, Anthony Astaphan, lead counsel representing the defendants, asserted that “no pleaded ground attacked the substance of the deliberations of the Commission”, indicating that the request for further information seeks to “go beyond the legal issues”.
Astaphan argued that the grounds for requesting the minutes have “no reasonable basis” and that granting such an order would only have the effect of delaying the hearings.
After some 90 minutes of exchanges, Resident Judge His Lordship Justice Francis Belles ordered that the minutes for the CBC meetings be submitted to the claimants by 9:30 this morning (Dec. 2). He did, however, refuse the application for the tape recordings, and will address the matter of written submissions at the end of the trial.
About two hours into yesterday afternoon’s proceedings, Brantley was called to the witness stand. When asked about the resignation of Amory and Perkins, Brantley explained that the two former CBC members did inform him of their intention to resign a week before their letters were tendered.
Brantley agreed that the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) is politically opposed to the CCM, but was clear in his explanation that he considers the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour party neither friend nor foe and that they would cooperate in cases of necessity. These statements were in response to questions posed by Astaphan, enquiring into the relationship between CCM and other political parties.
To date, according to Brantley, his party has not submitted names to the GG for the replacement of Amory and Perkins, but he has had some discussion with opposition parliamentarians to fill the vacancies. He also noted that his party has been arguing for changes to be made to the constituency boundaries on Nevis, but that it has since taken the stance that changes to the boundaries at this time “would create tremendous difficulty”.
In re-examination by Mottley, Brantley explained that the GG did not ask for persons to be nominated but rather responded, through the AG, explaining that the CBC is “properly constituted”.
Later in the evening, Richards took the stand and was similarly questioned by Astaphan. Richards explained although he was given the opportunity to make recommendations to the CBC, he did not have “adequate information to guide such discussions”.
He added that changes in population, migration patterns and new housing developments had changed significantly within the last eight years, which would render the data emanating from the 2001 Census “insufficient” for that purpose.
Concerns raised by Richards focussed heavily on statements made on October 19, by Hon. Asim Martin, one of the remaining members of the CBC.
A lengthy discussion followed on Martin’s controversial statement on the political platform seemingly expressing that boundary changes would be made “like a thief in the night”. While it is unclear what Martin intended with his statement, Richards indicated that it supported a spirit of bias on the part of the CBC, stating on record his fears about Martin’s involvement in that body.
There is no intention to cross-examined Perkins, but according to Senior Counsel Astaphan, Amory will be required to take the stand this morning. CBC member Hon. Cedric Liburd is also expected to be questioned in this morning’s hearing.
