Saint Kitts & Nevis - 2010 Elections
In the 2004 elections, the PAM returned to representation in the National Assembly, gaining one seat, but the SKNLP retained its hold on power with seven seats and the political complexion of Nevis remained unchanged, with the CCM retaining two seats to the NRP’s one. The CCM remained the parliamentary Opposition, with the leader of the PAM, Lindsay Grant, not holding a seat in the National Assembly. This was the situation on the eve of the 2010 elections, in which the SKNLP sought a fourth term, while the PAM sought a comeback and the NRP and CCM continued to lobby for the Nevisian vote (neither the NRP or the CCM campaigns in St. Kitts and the SKNLP and PAM likewise do not campaign on Nevis).
In the 25 January 2010 general elections, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas's SKNLP returned to office after winning six of eight Saint Kitts-assigned seats in the 11-seat National Assembly. The People's Action Movement (PAM) party won two seats. The Concerned Citizens Movement party won two of the three assembly seats assigned to Nevis. On election day armed police responded to address unrest over allegations of voting fraud in the constituency of the opposition leader.
In the 2010 elections, an independent candidate, Esroy Dorset, ran against the SKNLP and PAM candidates in constituency 2, but obtained only 6 votes; another independent candidate, Reginald Thomas, ran against the SKNLP and PAM in constituency 7, but obtained only 10 votes.. Two other parties remain active but did not field candidates in the 2010 elections. The United Liamigua Party (ULP), led by Mr. Ashamaz Jahbazu, represents Rastafarians in the islands while The United National Empowerment Party (UNEP), whose secretary is Winston Warner led a march in Basseterre in 2007 in support of ‘solidarity, and for the introduction of electoral reform, voters' ID and a new voters' list before next election’.
International observers from the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Community, and the Organization of American States (OAS) concluded that the elections were generally free and fair. The Commonwealth observer team reported that "voters were able to exercise their right to vote in accordance with legal procedures" but found "issues of substance" requiring improvement in the electoral process, including a need to tighten residency requirements for voter registration and lack of broad and transparent consultation in the appointment of election officials and boundary redistribution. The OAS electoral mission made similar recommendations and added calls for guaranteed access to the media; mechanisms to recruit, train, and finance female candidates; and greater civil society support for the electoral process.
For the January 2010 election, the government successfully implemented identity controls for voting, alleviating past concerns over duplicative voting and fraud related to false identities. There are no campaign finance regulations or prohibitions on political parties paying for the transportation of overseas nationals to return to the country to vote. Observers remained concerned some voters may be registered in constituencies in which they do not live.
Disenchantment with actions of the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party in early 2013 led to two of its elected representatives –Dr. Timothy Harris and Mr. Sam Condor– aligning themselves with the parliamentary opposition and eventually forming their own party – the People’s Labour Party – in June 2013.
In December 2012, Leader of the Opposition, Mark Brantley, from the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) in Nevis, filed a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister Denzil Douglas -led administration. Opposition Leader Shawn Richards of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) filed a second motion of no confidence in July 2013.
With neither matter having been scheduled for debate in the National Assembly, the Opposition parliamentarians resorted to the Courts to protest the violation of their constitutional rights. A ruling by the High Court in February 2014 disallowed the case against the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, but opted to proceed with the case against the Speaker who, it said, held responsibility for scheduling the no confidence motions for debate.
A third motion of no confidence was filed in September 2014 by Dr. Timothy Harris, a former Cabinet minister turned member of the Opposition by the time.
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