BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Opposition Members in the Federal Parliament continued their boycott movement today (Dec. 10) when, while the 2014 Budget was being presented, they absented themselves from that particular sitting.
Their action today mirrors those of the past and is in direct relation to the no-tabling of the one-year-old Motion of No Confidence.
In a statement issued by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Mark Brantley, he reminded that the many calls made by groups in civil society to have the Motion tabled expeditiously have all gone unheeded.
“Despite many public protests, vociferous calls from civil society and concerns by Caribbean luminaries about the undermining of democracy in this country, Dr. Douglas continues in office in breach of Section 52(2) of the Constitution of St. Christopher and Nevis. Without a doubt, Dr. Douglas must be considered an illegitimate Prime Minister who runs our democracy like it is a monarchy. The people of St. Kitts and Nevis deserve to be governed by who they elect, not who Dr. Douglas selects.”
Describing the Budget debate as “farcical”, Brantley reiterated the Opposition’s stance that it would continue in its non-participatory vein.
“Our Parliament must not proceed as if it is business as usual. Our nation demands better! Our principled stance of defiance to this debasing of our once proud Parliament must and will continue. We ask the citizens of this country to stand with us as we fight for our democracy and the preservation of our cherished ideals as a nation.”
It must be noted however that Opposition Member Senator the Hon. Vincent Byron was present at the commencement of today’s sitting, but during the Personal Explanations segment of the proceedings he attempted to explain that because of the unresolved MoNC he could not participate.
Shortly after, SKNVibes spoke with a number of individuals who maintain that the Opposition Members are making a habit of appearing in Parliament ever-so-often as a means of securing their salary.
This school of thought, SKNVibes understands, stems from the Constitutional and other regulations which indicate that if a Member of Parliament misses three consecutive sittings without duly notifying the Speaker, the seat which he/she occupies would be declared vacant.
The suggestion which has been made to this media house is that the Opposition is more concerned with pinning down and maintaining their income rather that supporting and advancing the cause of those whom they represent.
In a previous interview with SKNVibes however, Brantley countered this line of argument as bilge and suggested that by refraining from attending or participating in Parliamentary sessions the Opposition Parliamentarians are attempting to secure the democracy of St. Christopher and Nevis.
“The issue of security a salary is purely just a red herring. We all understand and, in fact, we had word that the plan was that as we missed the third sitting of Parliament our seats would have been declared vacant triggering a series of by-elections. Now, why would we want a by-election? We want a general elections! And so all we did in attending Parliament is to remove that parliamentary manoeuvre from the Speaker and from the Prime Minister because we understand that was the plan. It had nothing to do with a salary. The issue of salary for us is irrelevant. What we are concerned about is the future of our country.
“…We must understand that it is not just about going to Parliament, it is also about being available to our people to represent them on a number of issues to take care in the service of our people…And I want to make it very clear that staying away from Parliament, boycotting Parliament is in fact the best thing for our people at this point because we are trying to secure democracy.”
