St. Kitts & Nevis - January 5, 2010 (WINN): Nevis Premier Joseph Parry says it’s time to go back to the constitutional drawing board to tackle the issue of Nevisians having to go to the polls every two years.

The current schedule of Federal elections and Nevis Island Administration elections results in Nevisians being in a state of almost perpetual campaigning.

“There should be one election on the island of Nevis,” Premier Parry told WINN FM in an interview Monday.

The constitutionalists should take into consideration the interests of the people of Nevis and…find a way for the people of Nevis to work with the Federal Government, rather than having a situation where we’re eternally campaigning. I totally agree with the position that we have so many elections on the island of Nevis, and they can be very disruptive in terms of what we’re trying to achieve.”

Mr. Parry said while thought there should be one election of the island of Nevis, he did not necessarily want to have a Nevis election at the same time as a Federal election.

Asked if he envisioned alternately, a structure that saw persons elected at the island level, automatically serving in the Federal Parliament, Mr. Parry responded by saying, “It would have to be a constitutional change and it might be more fundamental than that. It has to be a constitution change” he repeated.

Nevisian politicians have long called for a single election date for the island, most recently, the Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament, Mr. Mark Brantley of the Concerned Citizens Movement during his New Year’s Day address.

The issue of Nevis unusual electoral situation also came up during public consultations held in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Diaspora as part of the recent electoral reform process.

A report of the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee recommended eliminating one of the elections in Nevis, keeping a five seat election with the winners becoming representatives at both levels of Government. This the Committee said, was the most popular view.

An alternate recommendation to address the same concerns was synchronizing the local and federal elections in Nevis into one exercise.

Tuesday afternoon, WINN FM asked Queen’s Counsel Tapley Seaton, one of the drafters of the Constitution to weigh in on the ‘one-election-date’ recommendation.

“We may make is doable. So many things are doable,” the QC responded.

“The question is that because the Constitution prescribes different methods of going about it, and because you have…five seats in terms Nevis…and five parishes…it sometimes creates a difficulty from a practical basis,” he explained.

Mr. Seaton said it would be feasible if there was the necessary level of consultation between the Premier and the Prime Minster, who can call an election at any time, but added that in looking at the Constitutional provision, he believed it would be better if such an arrangement prescribed by the Constitution.

Photo courtesy Premier’s Office: Premier Joseph Parry