St. Kitts and Nevis Government, Constitution, Flag, and Leaders

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St. Kitts and Nevis Government


Browse the listing below to find government information for St. Kitts and Nevis, including flags, leaders, and constitution information. Factrover also has complete information on St. Kitts and Nevis at its St. Kitts and Nevis Country Page.

  • St. Kitts and Nevis People
  • St. Kitts and Nevis Geography
  • St. Kitts and Nevis Economy
  • St. Kitts and Nevis History

    Government
    Type: Constitutional monarchy with Westminster-style Parliament.
    Constitution: 1983.
    Independence: September 19, 1983.
    Branches: Executive--governor general (representing Queen Elizabeth II, head of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--an 11-member senate appointed by the governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition) and an 11-member popularly elected house of representatives. Judicial--magistrate's courts, Eastern Caribbean supreme court (high court and court of appeals), final appeal to privy council in London.
    Administrative subdivisions: 14 parishes.
    Political parties: St. Kitts and Nevis Labor Party (ruling), People's Action Movement (PAM), Concerned Citizens Movement (a Nevis-based party), and Nevis Reformation Party.
    Suffrage: Universal at 18.

    Government of St. Kitts and Nevis
    As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in St. Kitts and Nevis by a governor general, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the house, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. St. Kitts and Nevis has a bicameral legislature: An 11-member senate appointed by the governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition); and an 11-member popularly elected house of representatives which has eight St. Kitts seats and three Nevis seats. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament.

    St. Kitts and Nevis has enjoyed a long history of free and fair elections, although the outcome of elections in 1993 was strongly protested by the opposition and the Eastern Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) was briefly deployed to restore order. The elections in 1995 were contested by the two major parties, the ruling People's Action Movement (PAM) and the St. Kitts and Nevis Labor Party. Labor won seven of the 11 seats, with Dr. Denzil Douglas becoming prime minister. In the March 2000 elections, Denzil Douglas and the Labor Party were returned to power, winning eight of the 11 seats in Parliament. The Nevis-based Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) won two seats and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) won one seat. The PAM party was unable to obtain a seat. Under the constitution, Nevis has considerable autonomy and has an island assembly, a premier, and a deputy governor general.

    Under certain specified conditions, it may secede from the federation. In accordance with its rights under the Constitution, in 1996 the Nevis Island Administration under the Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM) of Premier Vance Amory initiated steps towards secession from the Federation, the most recent being a referendum in 1998 that failed to secure the required two-thirds majority for secession. The March 2000 election results placed Vance Armory, as head of the CCM, the leader of the country's opposition party. In September 7, 2001 elections in Nevis for the Nevis Island Administration, the CCM won four of the five seats available, while the NRP won one. In 2003, the Nevis Island Administration again proposed secession and initiated formal constitutional procedures to hold a referendum on the issue, which will be held in early 2004. While opposing secession, the Government acknowledged the constitutional rights of Nevisians to determine their future independence. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.

    Like its neighbors in the English-speaking Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis has an excellent human rights record. Its judicial system is modeled on British practice and procedure and its jurisprudence on English common law. The Royal St. Kitts and Nevis police force has about 370 members.

    source: http://www.state.gov

  • St. Kitts and Nevis People
  • St. Kitts and Nevis Geography
  • St. Kitts and Nevis Economy
  • St. Kitts and Nevis History