National Assembly met three times in 1990, CARICOM wisemen gave PAM Administration “F’ for good governance

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, DECEMBER 17TH 2009 (CUOPM) – Frequent absences from the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly by the lone Parliamentary Representative for the opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM), Hon. Shawn Richards should not be surprising.

It is documented that even during the tenure of a People’s Action Movement (PAM) Administration; good governance took a back seat with few meetings of the National Assembly.
 
In fact, “Time for Action” – the Report of the West Indian Commission, headed by the eminent Caribbean citizen, Sir Shridath Ramphal found that the St. Kitts and Nevis National assembly had three sittings in 1990.
 
The Report authored by a group of wise men from the Caribbean found evidence of the infrequency of sittings of Parliament and provided statistics from the various Parliaments.
 
The report states on page 494 that between January and December 1990, sittings of the Parliaments in the CARICOM Member States ranged from a high of 53 in the Bahamas to 3 in St. Kitts and Nevis.
 
The lawmaking body in Montserrat convened 10 sittings in 1990. St. Lucia’s Parliament met for 21 sittings; Dominica, 9 sittings; St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 6 sittings; Antigua and Barbuda, 6 sittings; Barbados 42 sittings; Jamaica, 51 sittings, Trinidad and Tobago, 44 sittings; The Bahamas, 53 sittings; Belize, 6 sittings, Grenada, 21 sittings; Guyana, 36 sittings and St. Kitts and Nevis, 3 sittings. The West Indian Commission found evidence of a decline of good governance, and an erosion of the quality of civil society.
 
Since taking office, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Administration has convened the National Assembly an average of 8 sittings annually. This year alone the National Assembly convened 15 sittings.
 
Other eminent scholars on the Commission included Sir Alister Mc Intyre, William Demas, Dr. Howard Fergus, Dr, Vaughn Lewis, Professor Rex Nettleford, Mr. Roderick Rainford and Dr. Marshall Hall.