With general elections looming, the government has revealed its intention to head back to the parliament with several pieces of legislation aimed at Electoral reform in the federation.
Attorney General Vincent Byron says along with the tabled amendment to the National Assembly Elections Act to enforce a six-month residency requirement for nationals to be eligible to vote in general elections, the government intends to have passed the bill to set a Term Limit for Prime Ministers. That bill, entitled the Constitution of St. Christopher and Nevis tenure of office of Prime Minister Amendment Bill 2018 was introduced for a first reading in the National Assembly in February 2018.
“The question of the tenure of the Prime Minister Bill, term limits, that determine one who serves as prime Minister should not do so for more than two terms, consecutively or not consecutively and so this bill has had a first reading as well and is before the parliament. We expect that over the next few weeks, next couple of months, that this bill will also be tabled for a second and third reading for a determination by the parliament.”
The Attorney General says the pieces of legislation have been put in the public domain so that citizens can have input in the government’s decision-making process on these critical matters.