Final PAM rally in Greenlands
St.Kitts (Janauary 27th 2010): Mr. Marvin Edwards, National Campaign Manager for the People’s Action Movement, has announced his party’s intention to challenge the outcome of Monday’s General Elections in the High Court of Justice.
Mr. Edwards said it is clear as clear can be that the country wants a change of Government, and that the results, particularly in Constituency #4, #2 and #1, are not going to be accepted by the people without a fight.
Mr. Edwards pointed out that what he described as the Labour’s Party’s bogus electoral reform programme has failed the system of free and fair elections to which true democracy and the Constitution of St. Kitts and Nevis are dedicated.
Mr. Lindsay Fitzpatrick Grant’s failure to win the election in Constituency #4 exemplifies the falsification of the due return in that Constituency, Mr. Edwards said.
Mr. Grant last year February objected to the wrongful inclusion in the list of voters of 60 persons who do not reside in the Constituency. No adequate arrangements were made by the Office of the Supervisor of Elections for the hearing of the 60 objections. Mr. Grant is said to have lost yesterday’s election by a mere 29 votes.
Mr. Edwards said that it is the position of the People’s Action Movement that Mr. Grant’s alleged loss is due to a corrupt or illegal practice of so widespread a nature as to have affected the outcome.
Lindsay Grant
However, Mr. Edwards said that his Party, the People’s Action Movement, is confident. “History will repeat itself and PAM will win these 25th January Elections”, he said.
He explained that these General Elections are the second elections Labour has held on the 25th of January. The first time was in 1979. Labour’s candidate, Mr. Anthony Ribeiro, was said to have defeated PAM’s candidate, Dr. Kennedy Simmonds. But, Mr. Edwards said, PAM did not accept that result then, just as it does not accept this result now.
In 1979, the votes were recounted by the Resident Judge in open Court, and that at the end of the day it was declared that the true winner was PAM’s candidate Dr. Simmonds. Mr. Edwards says that PAM’s team of lawyers have advised that Election Petitions can be presented to the Court within 21 days but that they will be ready to file their papers long before that time.