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Photo: St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas (Photo by Erasmus Williams) |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 2ND 2006 - The St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly has approved without debate, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Governments road map to electoral reform.
All parties with representatives in the National Assembly were present at the presentation of the resolution, except the lone Parliamentary Representative for the opposition People's Action Movement (PAM), Hon. Shawn Richards. Mr. Richards did not return to Parliament following the lunch adjournment.
Political Leader of the Concern Citizens Movement (CCM) and Premier of Nevis, Hon. Vance Amory and the Parliamentary Representative for the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), Hon. Patrice Nisbett were present.
The resolution, presented by St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, who is also the Political Leader of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, calls for the establishment of a National Advisory Election Reform Committee, an Electoral Reform Consultative Committee and a Parliamentary Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee.
The Electoral Reform Consultative Committee will be charged with the responsibility of conducting national consultations leading to suggestions of a reformed electoral system and a new voters' list.
The Electoral Reform Consultative Committee will report to the National Advisory Electoral Reform Committee, which would advise the Electoral Commission on the major issues and preferences that emerge during consultation.
The Commission will submit a Report for the Parliamentary Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee, which should present the information received and its opinion on the proposed reforms.
The resolution calls for reform in the electoral system relating to the arrangements for voter registration and identification of voters, that there be reform in the electoral system relating to the demarcation of constituencies, that the electoral system be complemented with the introduction of a completely new 'State of the Art' National Registration System; that in support of this process of electoral reform, the members of the Constituency Boundaries Commission be appointed and that there be a re-registration for all citizens of Saint Kitts an Nevis and persons qualified to be so registered.
Membership on the National Advisory Election Reform Committee will be drawn from the St. Kitts Christian Council, the Evangelical Association of Nevis, the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union, the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, a Representative of the Nevis Division of the Chamber, the St. Kitts Teachers Union, the St. Kitts and Nevis Bar Association, the Director of Youth and a representative each from the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), the People's Action Movement (PAM) and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP).
The process of electoral reform is to be initiated after a series of national consultations that would encourage discussion of the relevant concerns of the electorate regarding the electoral system as it now stands.
