CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – THE recent situation involving a Guyanese woman, who is alleged to have breached the Federation’s laws by taking a picture of her ballot with a cell phone, has given rise to outcry from members of the political arena.
Joylin Ross, a citizen of Guyana but who resides at Hermitage, Nevis, was taken into police custody on January 25, 2010 - when the Federation held its General Elections - after she was suspected of taking a picture of her ballot.
Days after she was taken into police custody, a press release issued by the Police Press and Public Relations Officer, Inspector Vaughan Henderson, indicated that the woman was slapped with two charges: “Using her cell phone in a polling booth” and “entering a polling booth carrying a cell phone.” The communiqué further informs that according to investigations, “Ross immigration status has not been regularised.”
Ross, in speaking with SKNVibes, indicated that she was given an ultimatum to either vote in favour of a particular party or face inevitable deportation.
Representative for the people of Constituency Number Nine and member of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), Mark Brantley, told SKNVibes that while he understands that the young woman broke the law, the underlying reason for her doing so is cause for concern.
“I think this has a regional and international dimension to it. The problem that we are having is that our Caribbean brothers and sisters who are living here are being intimidated. They are being threatened. They are being told who to vote for, or else! And I feel very very sorry for this lady because she didn’t do what she did, in my view, because she had a desire to break the law. She did what she did because people in government were saying to her and to others that they had to vote a particular way, or else. And this poor woman found herself between the devil and the deep blue sea. I think it is a very very terrible thing that we are doing to our own brothers and sisters in the Caribbean, where we are demanding that they vote a particular way or face deportation.”
Brantley accused the government of the day of using work permits, business licenses and deportation as “political weapons”; a practice which he describes as “unfortunate” and one which “has to stop”.
“I want to see CARICOM get involved in this. I want to see the Prime Minister get involved in this, and I want to see us start to accord the necessary respect to our Caribbean brothers and sisters. If people have come here from Guyana or wherever and they are prepared to live here and abide by the laws here, then they should not be the victims of any political plots or political intimidation. They ought to be free to vote for who they want to vote for. That is their right.
“We must stop it and we must condemn it in the strongest possible terms, because here is a woman who has been in jail since last week Monday. I understand she has a young child. Why is she there? That, to me, is the biggest story. Why is she there? Because while the offence is that she supposedly took a picture of her ballot, the question is why did she feel she had to take a picture of her ballot? That is the level of intimidation that is being exercised. They go into people’s homes and their business places and they threaten them and it has to stop.”
While, as Brantley explained, he is prepared to take this issue “to the CARICOM level”, he has called upon the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, to speak out against the practices which he accused the Nevisian government of being involved in. He also solicited the media’s assistance in this regard.
“We are following the story very, very closely and we are prepared to take it to the CARICOM level. But first of all, we are calling on the Prime Minister, if St. Kitts and Nevis is a real partner in CARICOM, he has to speak out against these things and to ensure that they do not continue in our country. I am hoping the media would partner with us to ensure that these things stop. I think enough is enough.”
Contacted for a comment on Brantley’s sentiments and allegations, Nevis’ Premier Joseph Parry said, “I have no interest in Mr. Brantley; I have no interest in Mr. Brantley. I am running a country; I don’t have time to waste with Mr. Brantley.
“I have no comments to make about anything Mr. Brantley says, I am running a country. Let him level as much as he likes. Maybe you should find out about the money he gave to whoever he gave to. It might be more useful to do that because we need to have a morally clean country, not a morally corrupt country.”
