Published 12 December 2017
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
PM Harris roundly condemned for refusing to give the Leader of the Opposition extra time on Budget
Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 12, 2017 – There has been widespread condemnation of the refusal of Prime Minister Harris and his Team Unity government, to allow Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas extra time to complete his official response to the 2018 Budget Debate in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly last week.
In his response to the Budget last Thursday, Dr. Douglas was interrupted over 50 times under the guise “Point of Order” Prime Minister Harris and some of his ministers.
Dr. Harris objected vociferously when it was apparent that Speaker Hon. Michael Perkins was willing to give Dr. Douglas an extra 15 minutes for time lost through his constant interruptions, some say amounting to 20 times.
“Mr. Speaker, with your leave Sir, the Hon. Member has utilised his time allowed. If you wish, we are not going on this side of the House, allow a continuation for another 15 minutes. He will not get the support over here,” said Harris.
The Speaker, indicating that he was going to use his discretion and give Dr. Douglas extra time to make up for the plethora of unnecessary interruptions, bowed to the pressure of Dr. Harris to put the request for extra time to a vote.
Admitting that he has never seen a division with respect to time, the question was put and Dr. Harris, along with the Ministers and Members using the majority on the Government Benches voted “No” while those on the opposition benches voted “Yes.”
Speaker Perkins’ offer of an additional five minutes was not acceptable as Dr. Douglas indicated that it was not sufficient time to complete his official response to the 2018 as he was lost time due to the constant interruptions.
Dr. Harris and his ministers also voted “No” to give opposition members Hon. Konris Maynard and Sen. Nigel Carty extra time to speak on the Budget.
Over the weekend scores of persons expressed dismay that Dr. Douglas was not given the extra time and condemned the bulldozing attitude of Dr. Harris in the National Assembly.
“One would have thought that the same privilege given to Prime Minister Harris to present his Budget Address without any interruption, would be given to the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Douglas. But that did not happen. Harris not only interrupted on hundreds of occasions, but he made numerous remarks with his voice coming through the microphones much louder that opposition speakers. It is obvious that whoever the audio technician is, is doing so on the instructions of Harris. This is not good for a democracy. Sadly all this has happened with the support of the Speaker,” said a person, who followed the proceedings.
On Friday, during the linkup between WINNFM in St. Kitts and Observer Radio in Antigua, the hosts were critical of the refusal to give extra time to the Leader of the Opposition.
Photo 1 – Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas
Photo 2 – Hon. Michael Perkins
Photo 3 – Prime Minister Harris and his Cabinet Ministers in the National Assembly
