Douglas says he only has oath of allegiance to St Kitts and Nevis

Last updated: October 27, 2017 at 17:40 pm

The leader of the opposition in St Kitts and Nevis has once again labelled accusations by Prime Minister Timothy Harris as “hogwash”.

Denzil Douglas was a focus of Harris’ press conference on Wednesday, in particular over allegations that the former prime minister holds a diplomatic passport from Dominica.

Harris said his government has now sought legal advice on the situation, finalising an application to the High Court to force Douglas to relinquish his seat in parliament.

But the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party leader has denied any wrongdoing, and instead attacked what he sees as a diversion from other national issues.

“[The press conference] firstly intended to rekindle his failed leadership,” said Douglas.

“Secondly, it was to threaten with his dictatorial tactics to get me and the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party out of parliament because the polls are indicating that my leadership was far superior to his.”

Harris “is not by a long shot the preferred person to lead our people”, he added.

No legal basis?

The row over diplomatic passports has been a major talking point in the federation since it first broke on 3 October.

A grainy black and white image of a passport ID page purportedly belonging to the opposition leader began circulating online days after Harris made the claim.

[caption id="attachment_4891" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Denzil Douglas.[/caption]

The image showed the holder’s nationality as Dominican. Neither side has confirmed or denied the image’s authenticity.

Wednesday afternoon was the first time the that the legality of Denzil Douglas’ position in parliament has been seriously questioned.

Harris quoted section 28 of the constitution, which he said states “a person shall not be qualified to be elected as a representative of the National Assembly if he or she is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

In response, Douglas – who led the country between 1995 and 2015 – dismissed the notion.

“Whether or not I have a diplomatic passport, which for present purposes is not relevant, I owe no oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Dominica. I am not a citizen of Dominica. I am not a National of Dominica and have sworn no oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Dominica or any other country for that matter,” he said.

“I have made no application for citizenship of Dominica. The only country I have an oath of allegiance to and which I have dedicated my life to is the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis.”

Any application to the High Court “is a waste of time of the court and taxpayers’ money”, he added, and there was precedent showing this method could not be used to remove an elected member of parliament.

Spotlight on Harris

The current administration, and in particular Timothy Harris, have been at the end of some sharp-tongued remarks by Douglas in recent weeks – and his latest comments continue in that vein.

[caption id="attachment_4848" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Timothy Harris.[/caption]

Harris has “taken corruption, cronyism and nepotism to unprecedented levels”, he said, and “brought untold hardship in the lives of our people, especially our young people.”

The whole country has gone “backwards by miles”, he added.

Harris said Douglas’ statements were “hysterical” and “not coming from a heart of love of patriotism”.

Earlier this month, less than two weeks after accusing of his opposite number of holding a foreign diplomatic passport, Harris found himself at the centre of claims that he was granted the same document by Dominica.

The prime minister quickly denounced reports, describing them as “utterly baseless and malicious", and a number of media outlets who shared the story were forced to apologise.