Published 5 April 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
by: Media Source
West Basseterre Labour MP accuses Team Unity Government of tampering with electoral system
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 4, 2018 – The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Parliamentary Representative for West Basseterre, Hon, Konris Maynard accused the Timothy Harris-led Team Unity Government Wednesday of tampering with the electoral system instead of winning the hearts and minds of the voters.
“The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party does not believe in the disenfranchisement of any citizens,” said Maynard on the Issues programme on Wednesday.
The National Assembly Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2018 given its first reading on March 28, seeks to amend Section 37A, replacing the expression “ordinarily resident on the registration date” with the words “ordinarily resident for at least six months before the registration date.”
“This is all in an effort to disenfranchise voters who are already legally registered to vote and others who are presently eligible to vote in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Maynard, who noted that a Committee was appointed in 2008 to consult Kittitians and Nevisians at home and overseas on the issue of electoral reform.
In his brief comment Maynard noted that there has been no prior public consultation.
“Given the type of behaviour that we have seen from this Government, it is clear that the authorities will visit supporters of the government when they are at home and visit the known homes of opposition supporters when they are not home,” said Maynard, a first term parliamentarian.
“The government has realised that as a result of its growing unpopularity, they now have to resort to electioneering in the Electoral Office to disenfranchise voters. That is what is before the National Assembly,” said Maynard.
“We in the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party stand firm that our nationals must be given that right to exercise their franchise and it should not be infringed. We will do all that we can and in our power and legal remit and work tirelessly to ensure that the rights of citizens, born, grew up, lived here and a native of St. Kitts and Nevis that the right to vote remains intact,” said Maynard.
Another proposed amendment to the National Assembly Elections Act is a change in the First Schedule gives Commonwealth citizens from Caribbean countries or islands only, the right to be registered and vote in an election.
It is proposed that the present one year residency requirement will be changed to “a continuous period of at least three years before the registration date.”
Photo: Hon. Konris Maynard
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