Last Updated on November 27, 2019, 10:59 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Thursday’s sitting of St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly to debate proposed legislation to limit persons from serving more than two terms as prime minister is part of the continued vendetta by Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris against former holder of the post, the Rt Hon Dr Denzil L Douglas.
“Most observers are convinced that the constitutional amendment is designed to bar opposition leader Dr Denzil Douglas from becoming Prime Minister again. He served four consecutive terms, July 1995 – February 2015,” said local businessman, Mr A U Browne on Tuesday.
Browne said in a Facebook posting that he believes the voices of the majority should have had a say in this sweeping, but spiteful decision via consultation and a referendum. He said the latter could have been done simultaneously with the general elections slated for next year. However, the government is moving ahead to please handful of people that want term limits and care less for opinions of rest of the population.”
“I’m also of the view that a small state like ours should not be trying to follow America with this. America has different branches of government at the federal level for checks and balances. The world’s most powerful nation also directly elect a president and more that 20 prospects have declared there candidacy to unseat President Trump in November 2020,” said Browne, who further pointed out that voters in St Kitts and Nevis have no such privilege.
“We elect constituency representatives and the elected majority select a Prime Minister,” said Browne, adding: “So the argument that this will make us more democratic like the USA, is nothing more than a pretext for the Team Unity Government’s political agenda.”
Noting that he usually resists making predictions, Browne said there’s always an exception and this is one.
“I am going to predict that the term limits bill, if passed, will be repealed by the next government and it would be the right thing to do.”
He is further of the view that one indisputable fact is that much larger, more prosperous and more advanced countries “don’t subscribe to this short-sighted, personal and political manoeuvring of Timothy Harris and the Team Unity Government.”
Browne also advised that “Instead of wasting time with this bill, parliamentarians should be tackling more important and badly needed constitutional reforms to St Kitts and Nevis’ 36-year-old constitution. They also could be repealing some of the useless archaic laws on our law books.”
The bill has been classified as “the Denzil Douglas Bill,” similar to the “Fitzroy Bryant Clause” in the 1983 Constitution, which prohibits persons who live all their lives in St Kitts and Nevis from being elected to the St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly if one parent or grandparent was not born in St Kitts and Nevis.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
