BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, September 03, 2019 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Members of Parliament on the Opposition benches were chided for their silence and lack of contribution as three essential legislative amendments made their way through the different stages and passed in the National Assembly on Tuesday, September 03, 2019.
At today’s sitting, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris ably guided the Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019; and the Trusts (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to passage in the Honourable House with strong support from government ministers.
While wrapping up the debate on the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Prime Minister Harris said, “I note that for the third time in a row on important pieces of legislation not one word from the Opposition.”
“There must be something amiss in an Opposition who wants to come to government and when matters are of fundamental importance to the country, to its development and to its participation in the international arena, the Opposition has no thoughts to be expressed in the Parliament,” Dr. Harris added.
Prime Minister Harris indicated that the three pieces of legislation that were passed in the National Assembly dealt fundamentally with the matter of transparency and good governance.
“Here again, as we have done time and time again, we have come to the Parliament, brought legislation that reinforces our standing as a government committed to transparency [and] good governance. And it bears reminding the national community that those who were before us had 20 years in which to enhance the legislative framework to ensure good governance and transparency and they were weighed wanting by the public and the international community and we…are now redeeming the times on transparency and good governance for the benefit of the people of the country,” the prime minister said.
Among those who gave support to the three pieces of legislation during Tuesday’s National Assembly were Premier of Nevis, the Honourable Mark Brantley and Attorney General, the Honourable Vincent Byron.
