BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PRIME MINISTER the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said his government would be exploring the possibility of enacting legislation that would clearly declare when a Motion of No Confidence (MONC) is to be heard.
“I believe that we should bring to the Parliament of our country the necessary piece of legislation that should state categorically when a Motion of No Confidence is to be heard in our confidence. That was not done in our Constitution! We are going to explore the possibility of having that done in the Parliament by way of the normal laws of our country and then we believe that that controversy would die.”
PM Douglas shared this information on Wednesday (July 24) at his monthly press conference held at Government Headquarters.
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Political Leader explained that since 1983 the country has endured controversies surrounding Motions of No Confidence and the failure of the ruling government – at each specific time – to have them tabled. He said this was because the nation’s Constitution is void of any stipulation about the tabling of a MONC.
“We have been told that the Motion must come because is it a convention so to do. We continue to make the point – very clearly I’ll repeat it here – that there is nothing in our Constitution that speaks to when a Motion of No Confidence is to be heard. There are other constitutions in the Eastern Caribbean who had independence before us whose independence constitution states specifically when a motion should be heard.
“We chose not to in 1983 because the Simmonds Government at time had two Motions of No Confidence before it, which it was determined not to hear. And for that reason, it deliberately did not include a timeframe when Motions of No Confidence should be heard.
“Secondly, we said that it should go by convention where there has been a precedence set there is no need for a convention. The precedence has been set here in our own Parliament; that’s what I am guided by and I would believe therefore that we need to do something to correct the problem as it is.”
With two Motions of No Confidence hanging over the head of the Labour Party Government, Prime Minister Douglas has declared it is important that the MONCs are heard.
Among the other declarations he made about the MONCs are that the Speaker is responsible for deciding if and when they are to be tabled, that they would be tabled when he (the PM) is ready and that they would not be tabled until two Members of Parliament resign their seats.
The first Motion of No Confidence was filed on December 11, 2012 and the other on July 4, 2013.
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