Above: Basseterre (CJ Photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
St Kitts and Nevis Opposition Leader Mark Brantley has filed a motion of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas.
The motion has not yet been tabled for debate. It would require a majority of the twin-island federation’s 11 voting-eligible Members of Parliament to succeed. If the motion passed, Douglas would have to resign within a period of three days or dissolve the country’s Parliament.
In a statement, Douglas blasted Brantley’s motion, saying he could not “ask whether he is concerned about its implications, in this interdependent global economy, of his questioning the legitimacy of the duly elected Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, not for him as a successful and experienced lawyer, and not for me as a successful and experienced medical doctor, but for the countless Kittitians and Nevisians whose economic well-being depends so greatly on the stability of St. Kitts and Nevis, in the eyes of the international community.”
The motion alleged that the current government had “constantly and willfully disregarded the constitution of the country,” among other charges.
Douglas is currently serving his 17th year as the country’s Prime Minister, the longest-serving current leader in CARICOM.
“I wish to make clear today that not only did the voters choose Labour, they also decided not to choose other parties that wished to form the government,” he said. “Hence, they do not expect that this country’s Labour representatives, therefore, will betray their trust by embracing combinations and permutations of persons the voters did not wish to lead the Government, to do so.”