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Judge rules Constituency #2 seat in Nevis “Null & Void”
Virgin Islands News Online Correspondent
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis- Following the results for the July 11, 2011 Island Election held in Nevis, which resulted in three of five seats being won by Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), a case was introduced to the Charlestown High Court, initiated by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) regarding that over 200 properly registered voters were illegally removed from the Voters List, therefore denied the opportunity to cast their ballots in the election.
The Election Petition Case was introduce by the CCM, primarily asking the court to declare the election of NRP Constituency number two representative Mr. Hensley Daniel, null and void, with the possibility perhaps of a new poll being held for that district.
Over a two-week period, His Lordship Lionel Jones supervised the Election Petition Case with Mark Brantley (CCM) and Hensley Daniel (NRP), and then made his verdict on March 21, 2012.
The orders of His Lordship Lionel Jones read; 1. The Nevis Island Assembly Election for the Constituency of Nevis Number Two, Parish of St. John’s held on the 11th Day of July 2011 is hereby declared null and void. 2. The Order sought declaring that the Electoral Commission acted in contravention of Section 33, Subsection 4 of the Constitution in failing to take steps to ensure that the persons listed in the first schedule of the petition were allowed to vote, and also failed to ensure that the second respondent took steps to do so, is refused. 3. The Order sought that the court should order that the names of the voters who were unlawfully removed from the list be restored, is refused. 4. I declare that the petitioner’s right to freedom of expression and his right not to be treated in a discriminatory manner by reason of his political opinion guaranteed under sections 12 and 15 of the Constitution of St. Christopher and Nevis, have been contravened by the failure of the Nevis Island Administration on its nightly Nevis newscast to cover any of the political events organized by the petitioner’s political party during the campaign leading to the election of July 11, 2011.5. In respect to costs, I order that all parties should bear their own costs.”
Advisor for the First Respondent (Hensley Daniel), Dr. Henry Browne, gave brief remarks to local media houses, uttering that he has difficulty understanding how His Lordship’s first and third orders could co-exist.
“What is interesting is that although the learned judge declared invalid the elections held on 11 July 2011, he has ordered that the names sought to be restored to the list not be restored. As I stand here now, it is difficult for me to understand how his first order invalidating the election and his refusal to have the names restored to the list, how they can peacefully sit together. In my opinion, they cannot. The restoration of the names on the list was the acumen and touchstone and kernel of the petitioner’s case. The learned judge refused his application on that ground but overall, that might today, bury itself in the fact that he declared the election invalid and void. How can they peacefully sit?”
Dr. Browne assured the local media houses that he would be seeking to secure a stay of judgment and would begin pursing a case at the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) level.
“I am slightly puzzled. I am puzzled for the following reasons, It is clear to me that the petitioner had no case, but whatever happens here doesn’t faze the first respondent Mr. Daniel, because we will mount an appeal against certain portions or orders of this decision”According to the Constitution of St Kitts-Nevis, a bi-election must be held within ninety (90) days of a seat becoming vacant.
If a bi-election is called, a CCM win in the disputed constituency would give the CCM a 3-2 majority, resulting in a change of government in the Nevis Island Administration.
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