BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN less than 24 hours, thousands of Nevisians and other residents on Nevis would be heading to the polls to elect those individuals they deem most fit to usher the island into and through the next five years.
With the last local elections taking place just about 18 months ago, the expectation was that another local election would not have been held until sometime in 2016. But this snap election had become compulsory after one of the seats occupied by the incumbent Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) was vacated in the third quarter of 2012.
That seat was occupied by Hensley Daniel and his election was made null and void by both the Nevis Circuit Court and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.
The effect that the Courts’ decision had was that the NRP and the CCM occupied equal seats (two-each and one vacant), and while some clamored for a by-election to fill the vacant seat, Premier Joseph Parry decided upon calling full elections.
With each party fielding a full slate of candidates only last week, CCM appealed for a ‘run-out’ but it was turned down by the ‘Umpire’ (Justice John Benjamin).
CCM’s Deputy Leader Mark Brantley (Candidate for Nevis Two) and Keith Scarborough (Candidate for Nevis Five) filed for injunctive and declarative relief against their respective opponents, Hensley Daniel and the Joseph Parry, to debar them from contesting the elections.
They were however unsuccessful in securing the injunction.
Nonetheless, both the CCM and the NRP seem confident of victory at the polls.
But regardless of confidence, both parties are assured an anxious wait through the 12-hour voting process and the hours-long process of counting the thousands of ballots which are expected to be cast.
The outcome of tomorrow’s election would determine the direction that the Political Leader (Parry or Amory) would take in returning Nevis to its status as Queen of the Caribbean.
As judgement day approaches, the judges prepare themselves to make their mark; a mark which will resonate through the length and breadth of the island for the next five years.
