Head Table (left to right): Master of Ceremony and Supervisor of Elections, Pastor Leroy Benjamin; Chairman of the St Kitts Christian Council, Archdeacon Valentine Hodge; the Commonwealth’s Special Adviser and Head of the Caribbean and Pacific Section, Juliet Solomon; CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary General, Colin Granderson; St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Political Leader of the governing St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Denzil  Douglas; Political Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Premier of Nevis, Joseph Parry; Chairman of the National Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee, Raphael Archibald; Deputy Political Leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and Leader of the Opposition in the St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Malcolm Guishard; Political Leader of the People's Action Movement (PAM), Lindsay Grant and Chairman of the St Kitts Evangelical Association, Rev. Dr Oldain Charles. (Photo by Erasmus Williams)

The political leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Premier of Nevis, Joseph Parry; Deputy Political Leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and Leader of the Opposition in the St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Malcolm Guishard and Political Leader of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Dr Denzil Douglas were supported by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Representative, Ambassador Colin Granderson and the Commonwealth’s Juliet Solomon.

But with two of the three political parties that sit on the Opposition Benches in the National Assembly supporting the electoral reform process and move towards greater democracy, there was one dissenting voice during the official ceremony to launch the programme through widespread consultation.

It came from the Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), Lindsay Grant, whose party holds one seat in the 11-member Parliament, and whose party, while in office, made fundamental changes to the election laws in St Kitts and Nevis without any public consultation in 1983.

Grant said he had no confidence in the senior public servants and the representatives of non-governmental organisations appointed to those bodies, by their respective executives to serve on the various committees.

The St Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Nevis Evangelical Association, the St Kitts Evangelical Association, the St Kitts Teachers Union, the St Kitts-Nevis Bar Association, the St Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union and the four political parties with seats in the National Assembly have one representative each on the National Advisory Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee. Parliamentary parties also have representation on the Parliamentary Constitutional and Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee.

“We will not have one lone representative serve on any committee appointed to carry out the will of another party. If every party, every organisation, every institution interested in electoral reform wishes to have a process that will result in something that they will not like, then the People’s Action Movement stand alone in its protest and refuses to rubber-stamp this charade carte blanche,” Grant said.

CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Colin Granderson told the large gathering of persons from all walks of life, that the Georgetown-based regional integration movement supports the electoral reform process.

He said the process of reform which is being launched in St. Kitts and Nevis is “highly commendable.”

“I am sure that every member state of the Caribbean Community will be able to learn from your experience as they also seek to modernize their electoral processes in response to the demands and expectations of the citizens for greater credulity, transparency, efficiency and accountability in ensuring that all eligible voters exercise their will in the selection of the government of their choice,” said Granderson.

The Commonwealth’s Special Adviser and Head of the Caribbean and Pacific Section of the 51-nation Commonwealth in London, Juliet Solomon said she has read the White Paper.

“I am impressed with the level of consultation envisaged. I look forward to the development in these consultations and I am especially impressed with the declaration contained in the White Paper and quoted the section which states:

‘At the end of this process, the Government of St Kitts and Nevis is confident that we would have formulated and instituted a legally reformed electoral system. Through proper consultation with all social groups, political parties and the general public, the Government will ensure that these reforms guarantee that future elections in St Kitts and Nevis continue to be free and fair. Furthermore, and in keeping with our democratic and constitutional rights, these reforms will not disenfranchise any voter as the reforms seek to introduce a modern and efficient electoral system.

’The Commonwealth official expressed “confidence that the consultations envisaged will be conducted in the same spirit in which Commonwealth Observer Missions and assistance is given with wide consultation among all stakeholders.”

“It is a great privilege to be here and pledged the Commonwealth’s support to St Kitts and Nevis’ move toward greater democracy,” concluded Solomon, who assisted the Commonwealth Expert Teams at the Antigua and Barbuda General Election on March 23rd 2004 and the St. Kitts and Nevis General Election on October 25th 2004.

Deputy Political Leader of the Concerned Citizen Movement and Leader of the Opposition in the St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Malcolm Guishard told the gathering his party was pleased to participate in the electoral reform process.

“The Concerned Citizens Movement is pleased to be associated with the formal launch of the electoral reform process. Today’s world is driven by technology. The challenge for us is how do we go about the process of re-registration. To what extent can technology be used in the process of electoral reform? What do we have that can be of dual use? And there is the issue of cost,” said the CCM official, who stressed “we must not allow cost to determine the best way forward.”

Guishard, a former Deputy Premier, said that whatever system is put in place “must be as fool-proof as is possible.” The CCM’s Executive officers including Senator Michael Perkins, who sits in the National Assembly and the CCM’s nominee on the National Advisory Electoral and Boundaries Committee.

Support for the electoral reform process also came from the Nevis Reformation Party, a one-time coalition partner of the People’s Action Movement.

NRP’s Political Leader and Premier of Nevis, Joseph Parry, described the electoral reform process as “a momentous occasion in the history of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Parry expressed confidence in the people appointed by the National Assembly to conduct the exercise of electoral reform and disclosed that despite previous concerns in the electoral system used over the years, the NRP insisted that it participates in the electoral process.

“We insisted that we must understand the process and we must work the process to the best of our ability and capability. And I dare say to all concerned that we worked it well and we won,” said Parry, in reference to the NRP winning last month’s Nevis Island Administration election and returning to Government after 14 years in opposition.

“The Concerned Citizens Movement was a great teacher and we were even better students,” said Parry, who was supported at the launching by his Cabinet of Ministers, top NRP Executive officers including its nominee on the National Advisory Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee, Herman Liburd, a former Speaker of the House in the previous PAM/NRP Coalition Government.

Parry said the electoral process, the electoral laws and the application of the laws have their advantages and disadvantages as is every society.

“I do believe that the time has come for changes and the Nevis Reformation Party as a Party and Government supports Electoral Reform, and we will be part of the process,” the NRP leader and Nevis Premier reaffirmed.

Referring to remarks by other political leaders and regional and international representatives, including the chairman of the National Electoral Consultative Committee, Elvis Newton, and the Chairman of the National Advisory Electoral and Boundaries Committee, Raphael Archibald, the Nevis Premier said he is demanding and expecting of them “to demonstrate the type of leadership that we can give in these islands of St Kitts and Nevis.”

“I am demanding of them a demonstration of integrity, of seriousness and maturity and I am expecting that the consultative process will be thorough, will be carried out fully in all the villages of St Kitts, but certainly and more importantly to me, in all the villages of Nevis,” Parry said.

Parry urged that all stakeholders – churches, chambers of commerce, youth and groups would be fully involved and that they be given the opportunity to participate and that the reporting be “accurate, thorough and quick.”

“At the end of the exercise, our interests is in efficiency. We want a system that is efficient, a system that is quick and make us comfortable. We want to ensure that there is credibility, because without credibility we would have failed. We would have failed ourselves and we would have failed the Caribbean people. I want to ensure that there is transparency, because it speaks much of governance and everybody must know exactly what is taking place,” said Parry.

He said all measures must to taken to ensure there is no room for accusation. “Although let’s face it. As long as human beings live on this planet, you are going to have a problem, everybody will not be satisfied,” said the Premier and NRP leader.

Prime Minister and Political Leader of the governing St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Dr Denzil Douglas noted that St Kitts and Nevis is prepared to take a serious look at the electoral system.

“However as we look forward it is important that we look back.  We need to look back at our history, painful as it is, in order to ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past.  The poet and philosopher George Santayana once said ‘Those who Forget History are Doomed to Repeat it’ and I believe he was right,” asserted Prime Minister Douglas, who added: that Santayana “was right that we should not forget our history especially the sordid history that relates to electoral reform in this country and so long as the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party holds power, we will not repeat the kind of mistakes that were made the last time electoral reform was pursued here.”

Douglas said that electoral reform in the Federation was last pursued in 1983 and 1984, when “we were under less inspired management.”

“On that occasion, continuous voter registration was introduced, changes were made to the electoral boundaries, and the residency requirement for the eligibility to vote was removed.  At that time, government brought these complex amendments to the attention of the National Assembly, without any advance notice in an environment where we were not in the position to defend the interest of the people of St Kitts and Nevis that we are in now.  We had little notice of what was happening and moreover there was no attempt made by the government of the day to involve the major, or indeed any stakeholders,” Douglas pointed out.

He added: “Notwithstanding, we raised serious concerns about the changes they proposed and the manner in which these changes were being pursued, however, irrespective of the concerns raised the reforms were passed into law and had a negative impact on our electoral system.”

Douglas said the “reformed” electoral system was the one that is in place up to the present and the fact that the St Kitts-Nevis Labour party has been able to win the last three elections under that system, “should not lull us into a state where we believe that because the system is perfect.”

Douglas reiterated that the electoral system is not perfect and while it was not his Government that tinkered with it in 1983, it will be this government that reforms it now and “we will reform the system in the interest of all stakeholders and citizens in this country.”

He said his Government has taken all the necessary measures to ensure that all stakeholders participate and noted that the present electoral system, of which changes were made in 1983 and 1984 without any consultation was designed and imposed on an unsuspecting nation by the People’s Action Movement, and used in the elections of  1984, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2000, and 2004.

“The Commonwealth Observers were invited to observe those elections and after the 2004 election they stated that: ‘the election was credible and the result reflected the will of those who voted…  we found no evidence that on Polling Day itself there were actions by any election official or otherwise that prevented voters from exercising their franchise peacefully, freely and unhindered,” Douglas pointed out.

He noted that the Commonwealth had expressed concerns on a number of issues.

“The lack of voter identification, which in the opinion of the Commonwealth team, would enhance democracy beyond the level anticipated by the 1983/4 changes; the  absence of regulations governing the amounts that could be spent on campaigning by parties and felt that such limitations would benefit the democratic process in the future; the need to consider Constitutional amendments to facilitate wider consultation especially with major national political parties which may not be represented in Parliament and the  desirability of a comprehensive review of constituency boundaries making changes to reflect balance and fairness in the number of electors; and finally; the Commonwealth team also believed that the time had come for us to conduct a national registration exercise to accurately record all qualified electors and to remove from that list all persons who are no longer qualified to vote by reason of death, migration or mental incapacity,” said Douglas.

Douglas said that the matters referred to by the Commonwealth team are concerns also shared by his St Kitts-Nevis Labour Government.He said while the Government shares the Commonwealth Team’s concerns, as Prime Minister of this country, he has to abide by the Constitution which has established an Electoral Commission with a strict mandate to advise Parliament on matters such as this and a narrow political composition that reflects the official government and official opposition in Parliament.

“All of you seated before me are aware that at present the People’s Action Movement is not the official opposition in the Federation and as such would not be entitled to be part of the Electoral Commission.  My government, however, believes that since this party managed to gain the support of more than 30% of the electoral, they should be part of the reform process.  This was not their perspective in 1983, but this is our perspective today and as a result we have crafted a comprehensive committee system to facilitate the input of the People’s Action Movement and indeed all other stakeholders,” said Douglas.

He said that his Labour Government’s commitment to reform is not new, indeed it will be recalled that in 2000, the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party proposed to overhaul the voters’ list to eliminate any perception of fraud and to encourage the introduction of an I.D. card system.  “It is also noteworthy that no other political organisation saw it fit to include this issue in its manifesto during that election year,” said Douglas.