SKN Opposition Files Vote of No Confidence Against PM: “HRF Used as PM’s Slush Fund”

Leader of Saint Kitts & Nevis’ political opposition, former prime minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, has filed a vote of no confidence against current prime minister Timothy Harris over a litany of extremely serious charges, including what the opposition calls governing methods “reminiscent of a full blown dictatorship”, as well as “gross mismanagement” of the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP).

“I hereby give you notice of the presentation of a motion of no confidence, a copy of which is attached and ask that it be noted in the Order Book of the Assembly for tabling and debate as a matter of grave urgency,” Douglas told the Clerk of Saint Kitts’ National Assembly.

“I am asking that this motion be tabled at the next sitting of the National Assembly so that it can be debated and disposed of as an urgent matter.”

“Politically motivated discrimination and corruption”

Among the 23 charges brought, four relate directly to the CIP.

1. “The Prime Minister has corrupted and cheapened the Citizenship by Investment Programme and created a “race to the bottom” where sales agents are being allowed to sell the sacred citizenship and patrimony of St. Kitts and Nevis for extremely reduced prices against our laws”;
2. “The Prime Minister has established the Hurricane Relief Fund (HRF) as an alternative to the Sugar Industry Diversification Fund (SIDF), which is run entirely from the Office of the Prime Minister without any basis in the Foundations Act, and which receives money which constitutionally belongs to the government without any mechanism from Parliamentary or audit scrutiny or oversight, and is being used as the Prime Minister’s Slush Fund”;
3. “The Prime Minister has administered the Hurricane Relief Fund, now closed, in a way that has not fulfilled its objective which was “to enable the country and its people to recover more quickly and to ensure that the country’s infrastructure and people’s homes are fit and habitable where they have been damaged by hurricanes”;
4. “The Prime Minister has implemented a single disaster recovery Roof Repair programme, using funds from the HRF, the administration of which has been characterized by gross mismanagement, politically motivated discrimination and corruption”;

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