BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SENATOR and former Minister of Tourism and International Transportation, Hon. Richard Skerritt has resigned from Cabinet to become the newest Deputy Speaker in the Federal Parliament.
That information was disclosed earlier today (Mar. 10) by Attorney-General Hon. Patrice Nisbett, as the National Assembly met for the first time since the January 25 General Election.
Skerritt’s appointment followed opposition Senator Hon. Vincent Byron’s refusal of the position after his nomination by Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Sam Condor.
Section 32 (3) of the Constitution states that when the National Assembly first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business except the election of the Speaker, the assembly shall elect one of its members who is not in Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary to be Deputy Speaker.
Opposition Parliamentarians announced in the weeks following the election that they would not accept the position; a stance that threw the Deputy’s possible identity into question, as each person on the government’s bench was a Cabinet member and therefore ineligible to serve.
Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas said beforehand that the position would have to be filled by an opposition member, and stressed that he expected a certain level of maturity in the House.
Hon. Curtis Martin was returned as Speaker at this morning’s official resumption, and nominations for his Deputy subsequently opened. Byron’s candidacy was suggested by Condor and seconded by PM Douglas, and although the opposition Senator said he was “humbled” and “honoured” by the move, he did not accept the nomination.
Skerritt was quickly nominated by PM Douglas as a replacement, and with no other candidate announced, was given the position.
Each Parliamentarian took the Oath of Allegiance immediately afterwards, and the House was briefly suspended for the arrival of Governor-General His Excellency Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, who delivered an hour-long Throne Speech praising the government’s achievements and revealing its future plans.
The House was then adjourned sine die.
Speaking after the adjournment, Condor said Skerritt had volunteered to step down and tendered his resignation yesterday (Mar. 9) after a meeting between government and opposition Parliamentarians.
Condor insisted that Skerritt would not be absent from the ministry for too long, hinting that the government was considering an amendment to increase the number of parliamentary senators, thereby freeing Skerritt to resume his position.
PM Douglas confirmed that Skerritt had made the “magnanimous” gesture of resigning, and reiterated that the former minister would be back at his old job “very soon”.
“Internally, we had spoken about what would happen in the event of an opposition member not taking the position. After our discussion with them, we were not able to come to any agreement,” Douglas revealed exclusively to SKNVibes.
“Over the next few days, we’ll discuss our options. We can increase the senators, or we can change the requirements of the Deputy Speaker so that he or she is chosen from outside the Parliament. What seems to be people’s grouse is that being Deputy Speaker prevents them from actively participating in debates. I understand that, so we may want to fix that where possible.”
When asked, Skerritt declined to comment on his new position to the media.
