Elections for St. Kitts – Nevis are set for Monday 16th February 2015 with 5 parties in SKN contesting 11 seats – 8 in St. Kitts and 5 in Nevis. In St. Kitts the ruling St. Kitts – Nevis Labour Party is fielding a slate of 8 candidates as follows:
Constituency #1 – Dr. Earl Asim Martin (SKNLP)
Ian Liburd ( PAM )
Constituency #2 – Marcella Liburd (SKNLP)
Jonel Powell ( PAM )
Constituency #3 – Konris Maynard (SKNLP)
Sam Condor ( PLP )
Constituency #4 – Glen Phillip (SKNLP)
Lindsay Grant ( PAM )
Constituency #5 – Dr. Norgen Wilson (SKNLP)
Shawn Richards ( PAM )
Constituency #6 – Dr. Denzil Douglas (SKNLP)
Vernon Connor ( PAM )
Constituency #7 – Dr. Vance Gilbert (SKNLP)
Dr. Timothy Harris ( PLP )
Constituency #8 – Dr. Terrance Drew (SKNLP)
Eugene Hamilton ( PAM )
In Nevis the breakdown for the three electoral seats is as follows:
Constituency #9 – Mark Brantley ( CCM )
Ribelto Hector ( NRP )
Constituency #10 – Vance Amory ( CCM )
Cory Tyson ( NRP )
Constituency #11 – Alexis Jeffers ( CCM )
Patrice Nisbett ( NRP )
A Privy Council ruling on Thursday 12th February assured that the elections would be held using the old voters list and existing boundaries. In its ruling, the Privy Council, which is the final Court for the twin island federation, said after consideration of the appeal made by the Eastern Caribbean Court, it will allow the appeal filed by opposition legislatures.
The ruling was made after two (2) lower courts ruled in favor of the government’s bio to have the boundaries re-aligned with updated electoral lists reflecting new boundaries.The Privy Council’s ruling came after it heard submissions Wednesday from attorneys representing four Opposition politicians and those representing the Constituency Boundaries Commission, Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas and the island’s attorney general.The Privy Council was told that by a proclamation, dated January 15, 2015, Governor General Sir Edmund Lawrence sought to adopt new electoral constituency boundaries shortly before the elections scheduled for Monday.
However, Opposition legislators were successful in getting an ex-parte injunction on the same day to prevent such an injunction being made, but it was set aside on January 27 on the grounds that the proclamation had been made before the issue of the injunction and was therefore useless.
The issues before the SKN electorate are mainly about governance and accountability; the sustaining levels of economic development in all areas including tourism, citizenship by investment program, SIDF, PEP, green energy, agriculture and food security, youth initiatives, health & insurance, along with housing and infrastructural development.Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas says that his coalition partner the NRP and his SKNLP ruling party, has ensured that the federation is performing at the top level guaranteeing a #1 ranking in the ECCCU, in terms of economic performance & fiscal management. However the Opposition Team Unity point to a Motion of No Confidence that was never heard in 2 years and claims that the so-called strong economic performance is unreal and shallow as unemployment, or 17% VAT, electricity & water increases and a spilling debt translate to a need for a change in government.