PM Douglas dissolves Parliament in St Kitts & Nevis; Passes boundaries resolution
Douglas said he has advised Governor General Sir Edmund W. Lawrence to dissolve parliament with immediate effect and that the dates for nomination day and polling day will be announced later.
He made the announcement following an emergency sitting of the National Assembly that saw the passage of a resolution paving the way for the Governor General to sign a proclamation that would bring into effect revised electoral boundaries whenever parliament is dissolved.
Dr Douglas, who has a minority government in Parliament, said that the Constituency Boundaries Commission, which has been meeting since mid 2012, had finalised its report.
Injunction to stop boundaries taking effect
However, the Opposition Members rushed to the courts for remedies and was successful in getting an injunction granted Friday afternoon restraining the government from proclaiming the constituency boundaries changes. Chris Hamel-Smith, the Senior Counsel representing the opposition, told the media in St Kitts that the injunction was granted Friday afternoon even as the government was moving to have the boundaries changed.
“The judge has issued an injunction restraining that proclamation from being made in order to stop the report from coming into effect,” Mr Hamel-Smith told a local radio station.
“In layman’s terms it means that the judge has said things must not change until the court has an opportunity to look at the whole matter properly, and not under the unfair and undue pressure and haste that was created here this afternoon,” the Senior Counsel said.
According to news reports to Virgin Islands News Online from affiliates in the twin-island state, the matter is scheduled to be heard in the High Court next week.
Meanwhile, Senator Vincent Byron Jr. expressed outrage that he was not given proper notice of Friday’s emergency sitting of Parliament. “It’s a mockery of any sort of democratic system what happened today,” said Byron to local media in St Kitts.
A rocky road for Democracy in St Kitts & Nevis
It has been a rocky five-year road for the Dr Douglas Labour Party Administration who lost two of its strong-men in January 2013.
Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Sam Condor resigned his Ministerial post as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, Homeland Security and Labour.
Condor, an elected parliamentarian for Constituency #3 since 1989, demitted office via a letter to Prime Minister Hon Dr Denzil Douglas.
“At 8:35am today, by a letter dated 30th January 2013, my resignation from the Cabinet of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, was delivered to the Office of Prime Minister Dr the Rt. Hon Denzil Douglas.
The recent developments pertaining to issues of good governance and Constitutional integrity have brought me to the point where I feel constrained to tender my resignation as a Member of Cabinet, with immediate effect,” his letter read.
Condor said he remained committed to serve and to do the best he can for the people of St Christopher 3 and of the Nation in general “by the grace of God and by the will of the people”.
And then PM Douglas revoked the appointment of the Honourable Timothy S. Harris as a Minister of Government and assumed responsibility for the portfolio of Constituency Empowerment that was previously held by Harris.
During a visit to the Virgin Islands in December 2014, Dr Harris emphasised on the efforts and will of many in the twin-island state to get rid of Douglas. “Dr Douglas has been using every device, every trick, foul and otherwise to ensure that he stays in office against the will of the people of the region,” Dr Harris said, calling what is taking place in St Kitts and Nevis an injustice.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in St Kitts and Nevis Hon Mark Brantley two years ago filed a motion of no confidence against the Douglas Administration but to date it has not been brought before the country’s legislative assembly to be debated.
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17 Responses to “PM Douglas dissolves Parliament in St Kitts & Nevis; Passes boundaries resolution”
St. Kitts and Nevis democracy. The Prime Minister appears to be desperate to hold onto power and would stop at no lengths. It is moments like these that makes me proud to be a BVIslander...
Duggie continues to give the people of SKN too many Duggies and he has to go. The way how this man rant and rage just because he doesn't want to give up power. Everything he does now is always done in the d@rk. Look at the Accord signed between the SKNLP and NRP and now this boundaries issue all signed in the dark.He continues to tell thePAM suppporters don't vote for Tim but to vote for Vance Gilbert just so he could retain power.Don't trust him as he is capable of so many things, who knows perhaps he got the overseas caller to call in about endangering the Nigerians so that they the Nigerians votes can go in his favour.Desperate man out there catching straws and giving away so much bl**d mone just for power. What is he trying to hide or is he afraid of the commission enquiry when he leaves office?
The BVI and St. Kitts for their size and population have the largest amount of migrant residence in the Caribbean that`s a sign of progress and prosperity, when people leave their country in volumes heading to St. Kitts and, or the BVI, to look work for a better life and find it.--- How nice that is.---The BVI and St. Kitts unemployment is amongst the lowest in the Caribbean--The hotels in St. Kitts are amongst the busiest in the Caribbean, November to May busy. June music festival busy. July int`l cricket busy. August int`l Latin festival busy. September, October international conferences, these are not coincident, these are aggressive and pro activeness through marketing and policies and don`t forget the billion dollar Crystal Harbour development going on in Frigate Bay-- -Facts.--- trying to fix what aint break will only break it. I agree that, the Crime rate in St. Kitts is of big concern, needs to be brought under control. Dougie may be g*ng$ter, but the country going damn good. IMF and all those outside oppressive forces can`t push over neither Dougie or the one in St. Vincent. The two best leaders in the Caribbean, who will fight and die for poor people, the elites will have a problem with that.
I agree totally with Plank.
@ to plank, every country has their downsides and what you have outlined still doesn't change the positives that Plank has outlined. NO matter where you go, there will have downsides but you look at everything in totality and the point is, when you look at SKB 10 years ago to now, it has been a total 360 and there are many opportunities. What they need to focus on now is training their people to take advantage, especially the young men, instead of joining gangs and killing each other for foolishness. Otherwise, their economy has made the other Caribbean islands look like $H1T. God bless for sailing in the BVI otherwise we were in deep $h1t. Imagine we are number one in the entire world for company registrations and we cannot hold a conference if there are more than 500 people attending. We cannot even house them in hotels because we don't have enough rooms. We should be ashamed to see SKB up and pass us like that and are well on their way to being a premier destination. Once they can get their crime under control they will be on top.