BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO members of Operation Rescue were engaged in a silent protest yesterday (Mar. 15) aimed at drawing the public’s attention to the Speaker of the National Assembly – the Hon. Curtis Martin – and the part he has played in the delayed tabling of the Motion of No Confidence.
Social commentator Washington ‘Washie’ Archibald and local businessman Carlton Dupont yesterday morning and afternoon stood on the opposite side of the entrance to the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank – the Hon. Speaker’s place of employment - each bearing a placard which read “Hon Curtin you are blocking progress Table the Motion of No Confidence” and “Mr. Speaker, WE WANT THE MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE”, among other things.
Speaking with this publication, Archibald explained the purpose of the demonstration.
“The idea is to draw attention to the part that he (Curtis Martin) is playing in the crisis, because I don’t think that we have been focussing on him. We’ve been blaming Douglas and everybody writing letters to Douglas, but in this particular instance the person who is really ultimately responsible for what is going on is the Speaker.
“Dr. Douglas himself admitted that he has nothing to do with the Motion of No Confidence, because the truth is that Dr. Douglas’ domain is in the Cabinet…he has no real control over the Parliament. In the Parliament, Douglas is equal to everybody else. The person who is the boss of the Parliament is Curtis Martin,” Archibald expressed to this publication yesterday.
The men – according to Archibald – went into the Bank shortly after 8:00 a.m. to display their placards and were asked to leave and, as a result, they took up position outside. Later that afternoon – shortly before 4:00 p.m. – they returned to the area for the final leg of their peaceful demonstration.
“The objective of doing it then was to catch the workers coming out so that Curtis could feel uncomfortable amongst his colleagues and his colleagues could look at him with a closer view, because he is the man who is creating the problems in our country. The only person who could decide to move this Motion of No Confidence on the floor is Curtis Martin. He is the one delaying the process. Maybe he is being manipulated…but he is not doing his job as Speaker of the House. He continues to delay the Motion of No Confidence, so we have to focus on him because he is the real culprit.
“He feels that he is protected, so what he is doing there is amounting to misfeasance; he is messing with the Constitution on his own deliberation. So we have to focus attention on him…”
The Motion of No Confidence was filed by the Opposition in the Federal Parliament in early December 2012 and, while its Members and others are hankering for its expeditious tabling, it is still unclear as to when it would be brought before the St. Kitts-Nevis National Assembly.
