BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – Nevis’ lone opposition parliamentarian in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Hon. Patrice Nisbett said democratic principles and traditions are under siege in the parliamentary history of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“All parliamentarians including the Members of the Opposition have certain rights and privileges and immunities and these are given to us by our Constitution and important and implicit is our ability to go to the Parliament and represent and speak on behalf of the people who would have sent us to the Parliament,” said Nisbett in response to Speaker Hon. Michael Perkins dismissal last Friday of a Motion which expressed no confidence in the way he conducts the business of the lawmaking body.
“The Parliament is not just about those who are elected and sits on the Government side. The Parliament is about all of us who constitute the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Mr. Nisbett, a former Attorney General, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Legal Affairs.
He lamented that recent developments in the lawmaking body in the last few months and expressed the view that Speaker Perkins has “leaned so much in favour of the Government, that he no longer has a fair hand. He shows flagrant and blatant partiality towards the Government side.”
Mr. Nisbett said Speakers who preside over Parliaments “have to be fair, have to be balanced and most importantly that Speaker has to be impartial.”
“What you are hearing from this Speaker, is that he has ran out of patience, and people are meeting him in supermarkets and wherever and are telling him he has too much patience. Who is he having too much patience with? It is obvious from the way he is reacting that the Government side can say anything, but as soon as the Opposition rises to defend a particular position, he seeks to shut us down,” said Nisbett, who referred to the Speaker directing opposition senator Hon. Nigel Carty to withdraw from the lawmaking body in December.
“He (Speaker Perkins) had no right in doing that, because there was no rule that he can point to in the National Assembly which was breached by Senator Carty,” said Nisbett.
With regard to the Motion of No Confidence in the Speaker, Mr. Nisbett pointed out that it involves the Speaker of the National Assembly.
“Any motion which speaks to a lack of confidence in any member of the National Assembly has to be treated seriously. One would have thought that the first thing the Speaker would have done, as he is intimately involved in the matter, is to recues himself, but what has transpired, instead, is that the Speaker has sort to make a ruling on a motion which involves him and by doing so, he has decided to dismiss the motion,” said Nisbett, who added that it is a fundamental principle of life and also in law that one cannot be a judge in his own cause.
“It just does not work. It goes against the fundamental principles of natural justice,” explained Nisbett.
“That is why we keep saying that injustices after injustices are being meted out to us as members of the opposition in the National Assembly by this present Speaker,” he said.
Nisbett said Speaker Perkins sought to justify his position by referring to various provisions of the Standing Orders.
He contends that Speaker Perkins went a little further by being a finder of fact as he said the charge by the opposition that parliamentary papers are received late is false.
“Our position has been that we have always received those documents late. That is a fact. But even if it were not, that is an issue that is debatable and is not open to the Speaker to find as a fact and to be a ground on which to dismiss the motion against him,” said Nisbett.
“It appears that Speaker Perkins do not understand his role,” said Nisbett who further pointed out that the refusal of Speaker Perkins to deny two opposition parliamentarians their right to speak on an Income Tax Amendment Bill last year was flawed.
“They rose, but somehow at the same time, the Prime Minister who was the mover of the Bill rose to wrap up. The Speaker proceeded to allow the Hon. Prime Minister to proceed in deference to two Parliamentarians who were on their feet and indicating they wanted to make presentations on a piece of legislation that was going to impact people in the country. One would have thought that the proper thing and more prudent thing to have done in these circumstances was to allow debate and discussion on the particular matter, but it is clear, apparent and obvious that the Speaker is hell bent on stifling debate in such a way that the Opposition is not allowed to debate and represent our constituents in the parliament,” said Nisbett.
In the 2015 general elections the SKNLP, led by the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, remained the largest single party in St. Kitts and Nevis, gaining 11,897 votes to the Hon. Shawn Richards’ People’s Action Movement (PAM), 8,452, the Hon. Vance Amory’s Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) 3, 951 votes; the Hon. Joseph Parry’s (Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), 3,276 votes and Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris’ People’s Labour Party (PLP), 2,723.
Seatwise in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, the PAM holds 4 seats, the SKNLP, 3 seats, the CCM, two seats and the NRP and the PLP, 1 seat each.
