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Voters in St. Kitts-Nevis will go to the polls on Monday February 16 to elect a new government, well placed officials told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday.
The officials said that Nomination Day will be on February 6.
Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas had earlier indicated that he would announce the date for the elections and Nomination Day at a public meeting of the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) later on Tuesday night.
“I will make that announcement tonight buoyed by the fact that voters expressed their desire to have the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party lead our country in 2010 buoyed by all that Labour has accomplished since then,” said the 62-year-old Prime Minister, who is seeking his fifth consecutive term in office.
Dr. Douglas will face a challenge from Team Unity, an opposition grouping that includes the main opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) as well as two former senior members of his administration.
In a nationwide radio and television broadcast on Tuesday, Prime Minister Douglas said voters will “in a matter of weeks” participate in that most “important democratic exercise when with our X’s we will specify exactly which candidate and which political party we wish to assume the leadership of our Federation in this moment of our nation’s history on renewed boundaries.
Dr. Douglas will face a challenge from Team Unity, an opposition grouping that includes the main opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) as well as two former senior members of his administration.
In a nationwide radio and television broadcast on Tuesday, Prime Minister Douglas said voters will “in a matter of weeks” participate in that most “important democratic exercise when with our X’s we will specify exactly which candidate and which political party we wish to assume the leadership of our Federation in this moment of our nation’s history on renewed boundaries.
Meanwhile, the court injunction granted on January 16 to opposition MPs against the proclamation of new boundary changes into law has been discharged.
In delivering her ruling on Tuesday, Justice Marlene Carter said the governor general’s proclamation of the changes does not rely on the gazette announcing the changes being made available to the public.
That had been a key argument of Christopher Hamel Smith SC, who represents the opposition MPs.
Justice Carter also indicated that the court accepted evidence from the attorney general that the injunction was granted well after the proclamation was signed.
In responding to the judgment, Douglas Mendes SC told the judge that his side intends to appeal the ruling.
He said they were concerned that elections could go ahead on the changed boundaries without an appeal court ruling
Douglas said that, while the government lawyers pointed to a post-election petition as the way to go, an appeal was the best option.
Mendes also responded to suggestions from government attorneys Dr Henry Browne QC and Sylvester Anthony that he was attempting to get Justice Carter to reverse herself.
Anthony told the court that Mendes wants to stop the election by way of an injunction.
Mendes told the judge that she was not being asked to reverse herself.
He also argued against Anthony’s claim that the judge had lost jurisdiction in the matter following her decision.
Mendes denied that the aim was to prevent the prime minister from calling the election. His explanation was that the opposition’s legal team was trying to prevent the new boundaries being used in the election.
The case appears far from over, and Justice Carter was expected to explain the way forward later Tuesday.
