St Kitts and Nevis election 2015

[Devonian]

St Kitts and Nevis will be going to the polls on Monday 16th February to elect a new National Assembly. The result of the last election in 2010 was

St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party 6
People's Action Movement 2
Concerned Citizens Movement 2
Nevis Reformation Party 1

Ahead of this election the People's Action Movement and the Concerned Citizens Movement have formed a pact together with a SKNLP splinter party formed in 2013 called the People's Labour Party. These opposition parties are campaigning in the election as 'Team Unity'

There has been some controversy over this election as the government tried to change in electoral boundaries last month. The opposition objected and the case was taken to the Privy Council in London who ruled against the Government, meaning that the election will take place on the old boundaries

www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/st-kitts-and-nevis-electoral-rule-overturned-by-privy-council

The opposition have also made other complaints about the conduct of the election, in particular the voters list

www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/63474/elections-tensions-rise-st-kitts-amid-fraud-claims

[Devonian]

Election ads for the St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party




and for Team Unity

[MeirionGwril]

Heavy on policy, then...

[Devonian]

The controversial Privy Council judgement

[johnloony]

Feb 15, 2015 23:03:03 GMT Devonian said:

The controversial Privy Council judgement

The whole election should be declared null and void, and re-run from the beginning, because the stupid idiot pronounced "Nevis" as if it were a short e as in "Ben Nevis" rather than the correct form which is a long e as in "Neeevis".

[Dan]

Any opinion polls??

[Devonian]

St. Kitts and Nevis (CMC): Almost 12 hours after polling stations closed in Monday's general elections, the state-owned ZIZ radio announced early Tuesday that there would be no more announcement of election results. "The count in St. Kitts-Nevis has come to a halt. The Supervisor of Elections has advised that for the rest of this morning in any event, no further public announcement will be made in respect of the count. "We wait to hear what exactly has transpired in the last hour or so that we had the delay which would have led to us being in this situation," said the announcer on the state-owned radio and television station. She said at the moment three seats had been declared for the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party/Nevis Reformation Party and one for Team Unity. "St. Kitts-Nevis still stands waiting to see what the outcome of the elections in St. Kitts-Nevis will be. We continue to monitor the situation ...and keep you informed," the announcer said. There has been no confirmation of the statement read out on ZIZ radio and tekevision, the official broadcaster of the election results. Efforts to contact the Supervisor of Elections Wingrove George have so far been fruitless.

www.winnfm.com/news/local/11520-no-more-public-announcements-of-results

BASSETERRE, St Kitts — According to a statement issued on Tuesday morning by Dr Timothy Harris, leader of the opposition alliance in St Kitts and Nevis, his Team Unity has won the general election in the twin-island federation.

Meanwhile, the supervisor of elections has reportedly suspended reporting the results of the returns of the constituency representatives.

Nevertheless, Harris said that the returning officers have so far returned six winning Team Unity candidates, representing a majority of the 11 elected members in the St Kitts and Nevis parliament.

The successful Team Unity candidates, Harris said, are: in constituency 1, Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd; in constituency 4, Lindsay Grant; in constituency 5, Shawn Richards; in constituency 7, Dr Timothy Harris; in constituency 9, Mark Brantley; and in constituency 10, Vance Amory.

The outgoing St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) has won three seats and the results in constituency 8 and constituency 11 were still pending.

“At this time, we ask the people of St Kitts and Nevis to be patient and to remain calm,” Harris said.

“We call upon the supervisor of elections to continue the democratic process and to complete his job. We call upon him to immediately certify the writ of election and to send the results to the governor general.

“We find his actions totally unacceptable and ask him to rectify this very important matter with a sense of urgency. The people have a right to know who is governing them. It is critical that the Supervisor of Election inform the people of the results of the election. The people have the right to know,” he added.

curacaochronicle.com/region/opposition-claims-victory-in-st-kitts-nevis-general-election/

[Devonian]

Reaction from the region

CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) – The St Lucia based Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Tuesday appealed for calm in St Kitts-Nevis where residents are still awaiting the results of a general election held on Monday.

“The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States is closely monitoring the electoral situation in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis and the OECS Chairman Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt is in close contact with both Dr Denzil Douglas Leader of the St Kitts & Nevis Labour Party and Dr Timothy Harris Leader of the Team Unity Party,” the OECS Commission said in a statement.[...]

In the statement, the OECS Director General Dr Didacus Jules said the OECS leaders are urging “that the process of ballot counting be expedited so that the election results can be declared without delay and in keeping with principles of electoral transparency.

“We urge all parties to maintain calm and to refrain from any announcements which may be injurious to the maintenance of public order and confidence in the electoral process,” said Jules.

www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/OECS-urges-calm-and-peace-in-St-Kitts-Nevis

The Government Trinidad and Tobago is concerned that a day after the closure of polling, authorities in St Kitts and Nevis have not yet declared the results of the election held on Monday, February 16th 2015.

In a statement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, "We respect the independence of all lawful institutions in St. Kitts and Nevis, but at the same time we feel that the failure of the Supervisor of Elections to declare the results in a timely manner might create the impression that there is interference in the democratic process, which we in the Caribbean Community cherish."
"I am also concerned that the region's reputation for democracy and for free and fair elections will be under threat as long as this issue in St Kitts and Nevis remains unresolved," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar noted that in any event, the Law does not generally allow the suspension of any part of the process until the respective returning officers return the writs.

The Prime Minister said, "It is the return of the writs that allows the public and the Governor General to know definitively what is the will of the people.

"As a region we have to be very careful of the messages that we send and that which is emanating from St. Kitts and Nevis is not the kind of message we want to send to our people and to the world.

"We await the results of the vote and would welcome whoever is the winner."

www.opm.gov.tt/media_centre.php?mid=5&eid=653

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves on Tuesday congratulated Team Unity, an amalgam of three opposition parties, on winning the general elections in St. Kitts and Nevis, although the result have not been declared officially, 18 hours after polls closed.

He, however, expressed disappointment that the Supervisor of Elections was “yet to declare officially the result of the preliminary count” of ballots.

Gonsalves said that his government is also disappointed that the election official has not put appropriate measures in place to effect the final count of ballots in accordance with the law and established practices.

www.iwnsvg.com/2015/02/17/gonsalves-congratulates-team-unity-on-victory-in-st-kitts/

[Devonian]

Prime Minister Douglas has conceded defeat

[mrhell]

Apparently it was plane sabotage www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Ex-St-Kitts-PM-says-sabotage-behind-election-defeat_18477982