A commentary by Neville Bartlette
Kittitians and Nevisians must be asking themselves some serious questions about what it means to live in a democracy based on constitutional law after some extraordinary words came out of the Team Unity camp today.
This morning, Timothy Harris was joined by literally tens of people on what was billed as a march on the High Court, so that Team Unity might attempt to use their lawyers to force the sovereign hand of Parliament.
Even those closest to Timothy Harris must be questioning the strategic sanity of this disastrously managed publicity stunt. The early morning rally turned out out to be another poorly attended Team Unity event.
For all the laughing at Timothy’s expense, which must have gone on around the Federation’s breakfast tables, there is a very serious point to be made about the state of democracy in St. Kitts and Nevis.
There is plenty of trash talk about “dictatorship” by hard-liners in the PLP/PAM/CCM camp. But:
1) Radio stations carried the whole sorry affair live and uninterrupted. This is not the hallmark of a dictatorship; this is the definition of ‘freedom of speech’.
2) Unity’s lawyers handed over their demands (however legally dubious) to the court. This is not the hallmark of a dictatorship; this is the definition of ‘justice for all’.
3) Their supporters, though few in number, marched at young Timothy’s side. This is not the hallmark of a dictatorship; this is the definition of ‘freedom of assembly’.
Freedom of speech, justice for all, and freedom of assembly – it sure sounds like democracy is alive and well in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis today.