The debate in the National Assembly on the Amendments to the Electoral Laws of the nation was a big anticipated event. The public looked forward to the clash of arguments which was expected to take place in this elevated habitat of the politicians.
The politicians themselves looked forward to it as a public relations opportunity which would yield them added capital from their various supporters.
The debate so far has been not very different from an elocution contest, which busied some of the judges with taking off points for saying tree instead of three and taowsands instead of thousands.
The debate is not yet over and the longsuffering public, that section which is sincerely interested in the outcome of the electoral study, is waiting to see what will be the final outcome of this year-long exercise.
For after all the grandstanding has ended and the politicians pat themselves on their chests and get patted on their backs for their long speeches, what the St. Kitts and Nevis public will be faced with are the realities of the electoral process.
The real question, after all the song and dance, cheers and applause will be: Do we have a fair electoral system?
Will there be a clean electoral list, which gives every citizen in St. Kitts and Nevis one vote on election day?
Who will be listed to vote in our elections list? Citizens, dual citizens, Santo Domingo residents, economic citizens, dead people?
Should American and other citizens who live permanently in foreign lands and who are registered voters in foreign lands be invited to vote for a government in St. Kitts and Nevis?
Should the outcome of an election express the wish of the local people who will live under the chosen government, or should it express the wishes of people who live in Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere? Absentee voters?
Who should decide and determine the content and style of the parliament of our country, the local citizens who must face the consequences of their choices or the estranged ones who shelter in a distant land where the impact of their choices cannot be felt?
For the past 25 years Kittitians and Nevisians have been subjected to the dictates of Kittitians and Nevisians who have by their own choices, lived far removed from the islands where they were born, from the center of our controversies.
Every five years or so they drop in like a fresh cold, impose their political will on our population and gleefully return to their foreign homes while the local residents either enjoy or endure the result of their foreign intervention.
The loyal Kittitians who love their country, before all lands in East or West, are nervous and troubled and plead earnestly for a voters list which will contain only people with genuine eligibility to decide who should rule the home.
