BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SOME express outrage, some view it as the beginning of the collapse of democracy while some see no cause for concern and an opportunity for the various arms of government to function as they should. But, however it may be viewed, the fact is that today (Dec. 10) marks one year since the Motion of No Confidence was filed.
Both sides of the political spectrum have interestingly different views on the one-year anniversary.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition the Hon. Mark Brantley – the individual who filed the MoNC – said it is stretching into one year without so much as a debate in Parliament and that it is the work of the Speaker of the House, the Hon. Curtis Martin, and Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.
“I think it is terribly unfortunate and unprecedented that the Speaker and the Prime Minister have both rendered the Parliament in St. Kitts and Nevis a laughing stock. The Parliament is supposed to be a place of honour and respect, a place which constitutes one of the pillars of our democracy where laws are passed and the people’s business is done. And a Motion of No Confidence is a critical tool that is made available through our Constitution and our Parliamentary Rules to test the support of any government at any time.
“And having delayed and wasted time now for a year, puts us in a category on our own, set apart from everybody else. I was recently looking at the news and even in Somalia they have just had a Motion of No Confidence and the government has fallen after just 13 months. In Thailand, Motion of No Confidence; in Trinidad, in Barbados, in Grenada and all around the region and the world, this is a tool that is used…
“Only in St. Kitts and Nevis can a Speaker and Prime Minister decide to ignore all the tenets of Parliamentary democracy and refuse to have a Motion heard. Why? Because the Prime Minister and the Speaker both know that the Prime Minister will lose it. And so they continue to charade, they continue to summon Parliament as if it’s all well and business as usual. It cannot be business as usual.”
Brantley said the current state of affairs is “unfortunate for our democracy and unfortunate for our country”, but promised that the Opposition would “continue to be vigilant and to continue to agitate for what is right”.
Government bencher Senator the Hon. Nigel Carty also spoke about the extended period during which the MoNC has been left unaddressed.
He declared that the government’s position remains the same, which is that “the matter is in the Court and we will want to allow the matter in the Court to run before we at least do anything on our side to be able to move the matter forward.
“…We are operating under our own Constitution which is unique in several ways. And so we would have to play by our Constitution and by our Rules in our system of democracy, including taking into account the matter is before the Court and we would want to have the Court adjudicate on these matters before we do anything more in relation to the Motion of No Confidence”.
