Mr. Condor has indicated to Cabinet that the Final Report has been sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers, and its recommendations have been forwarded to the expert Legal Draftsman in Barbados, whose services have been provided by the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Head Table at the Formal launch of the Electoral Reform Process at The St. Kitts Marriott Resort in August 2006 (left to right) Master of Ceremony and Supervisor of Elections, Pastor Leroy Benjamin; Chairman of the St. Kitts Christian Council, Archdeacon Valentine Hodge; the Commonwealth’s Special Adviser and Head of the Caribbean and Pacific Section, Ms. Juliet Solomon; CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Colin Granderson; St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Political Leader of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Hon. Denzil L. Douglas; Political Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Premier of Nevis, Hon. Joseph Parry; Chairman of the National Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee, Mr. Raphael Archibald; Deputy Political Leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and Leader of the Opposition in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Hon. Malcolm Guishard; Political Leader of the People's Action Movement(PAM), Mr. Lindsay Grant and Chairman of the St. Kitts Evangelical Association, Rev. Dr. Oldain Charles. (Photos by Erasmus Williams)
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The parliamentary representatives of the Nevis Reformation Party, the Concerned Citizens Movement and the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party have agreed on several issues including that fingerprints not be used on the National Identification Card.
The National Identification Card will have several safety features including a photo, a unique identification number, signature of the individual, and the signature of an Electoral official.
The NRP, the CCM and the SKNLP representatives together controls 10 of the 11 seats in the lawmaking body.
The parties also agreed that any new electoral system should not discourage persons from participating in the registration process or exercising their right to vote and to a re-registration process.
Government from the outset has given a commitment that no person legitimately on the Register of Voters would be disenfranchised.
General Secretary of the People's Action Movement, Mr. Selwyn "Rusty" Liburd has announced that his party, which has not participated in the electoral reform process has indicated its supports for the inclusion of fingerprints on a voter identification card and has invited the Director of Elections in Jamaica, Mr. Danville Walker to visit St. Kitts and Nevis as its guest to speak on the issue.
The opposition People’s Action Movement, (PAM), which holds just one seat in the 11-member St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, has not attended any of the meetings, although its Parliamentary Representative, Hon. Shawn Richards, was appointed to the Parliamentary Constitutional and Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee.
It has also refused the invitation to nominate a representative to sit on the National Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee.
The National Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee consists of representatives from the St. Kitts Christian Council, the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Nevis Evangelical Association, the St. Kitts Evangelical Association, the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union, the St. Kitts Teachers Union, the St. Kitts-Nevis Bar Association, the Concerned Citizens Movement, the Nevis Reformation Party, the People’s Action Movement and the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
