By Saju Ng’alla
Leader of the People’s Action Movement, Lindsey Grant, has asked that his party be a part of the national electoral reform programme, which would lead to a new Voters’ List, voter identification cards and a possible change in boundaries.
Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, at the end of the Labour Day March, said that the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party will go into a very important Caucus on Sunday, and he would then make an announcement on the reform programme, which will commence on June 1.
“We are getting the machinery ready for the next (General) Elections,” said Douglas.
The Prime Minister said that the electoral reform process will create a brand new Voters List “that will not disenfranchise the supporters (of all parties) and voters who are living overseas.”
“They are Kittitians and Nevisians and they must be given the right to vote in their country,” Douglas said.
He said the electoral reform will result in the issuance of a smart card – voter’s identification.
“We will also have based on the report from the Commonwealth Secretariat, a review the boundaries as some of them are too small and some too large,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Grant said in an important matter like this the ruling Labour Party cannot operate in a vacuum.
The Prime Minister said the process would be opened to all stakeholders in the Federation.
“If Grant continues to be the leader of the political party I expect that he would have the opportunity to be part of the process,” Douglas said. “The whole idea is that it is an open democratic system. We want to get the views of all political views as well as the various stakeholders in the community.
“And so I would expect that the People’s Action Movement, especially since it is a party that has representation in Parliament would be a part of the process.”
Observer teams from the Commonwealth and the CARICOM Secretariat at the invitation of the Douglas Administration monitored the Oct. 25, 2004 General Elections.
Both groups observed shortcomings in the electoral system.
In making several recommendations, the Commonwealth Expert Team suggested the need for Constitutional amendments to facilitate wider consultation especially with major national political parties, which may not be represented in Parliament.
It recommended the need for a comprehensive review of constituency boundaries to reflect balance and fairness in the number of electors; a need for a systematic national registration and enumeration exercise to ensure a reliable and accurate register of electors; the introduction of voter identification technology; the identification of non-resident electors; the regular removal of deceased persons from the register and the requirement that voters (other than those residing overseas at the time of an election) are registered in the constituency of their normal residence.
The Expert Team also recommended that the Commonwealth offers technical assistance to the Government to undertake the national registration and enumeration exercise; Code to govern media coverage during an election period to ensure balance and fairness in the presentation of issues, parties and candidates.
The Expert Team also suggested the need for the introduction of campaign financing rules to ensure fairness and no undue influence on the outcome by large financiers; a need for a voter education exercise to explain and clarify the current election laws and to identify the issues for reform and recommended that the Commonwealth offers technical assistance to the Government to assist in the processes of identifying key issues and drafting new election laws and regulations to govern elections.
The Team recommended that the Commonwealth should assist in enhancing participation of women in St. Kitts and Nevis politics and that best practices in other Commonwealth countries could be utilised in this regard.
It also said there is a need for strengthening the role of civic organisations in the democratic process and that technical assistance to build capacity in this regard could be sought from organisations such as the Commonwealth Foundation.
