Political system
Short for KN by Abbreviationfinder, Saint Kitts and Nevis have been part of the Commonwealth since independence in 1983, consisting of Britain and the former British colonies. The country is a monarchy with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The queen is represented on the islands by a general governor, who acts on the advice of the country’s government.
The Government is led by the Prime Minister and is responsible to Parliament, the National Assembly, which has the legislative power. The National Assembly comprises the Governor General and eleven elected members and three appointed senators (two on a proposal by the Prime Minister and one from the opposition leader). Eight of the elected seats are occupied by representatives from the main island of Saint Kitts, while the remaining three go to representatives from the island of Nevis. Extra parliamentary seats are given to the Prosecutor and the Speaker if they are not already elected to the National Assembly. A President sitting on an extra mandate has no voting rights. Parliamentary elections shall be held at least every five years. The voting age is 18 years.
- Countryaah: Total population and chart of St. Kitts and Nevis for years of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Also covers population density, birth rate, death rate and population growth rates.
Nevis has a local government and its own legislative assembly consisting of the Governor General, five elected and three elected members (two on a proposal by the Prime Minister and one from the opposition leader). According to the Constitution, Nevis has the right to request withdrawal from the federation under certain conditions. It requires two-thirds of Nevi’s residents in a referendum to support a request for exit.
Political parties
A dominant political force is the Social Democratic Labor Party (Saint Kitts and Nevis Labor Party, SKNLP) who ruled the country from 1995 to 2015. Even during the colonial era, the Labor Party was the largest party in the country but a few years before independence in 1983 the party began to lose support and the 1980 election was won by the right party. people’s Action movement (people’s Action movement, PAM) who then ruled until the election 1995.
At Nevis, politics is characterized by the issue of independence. The parties in the local parliament, concerned citizens movement (Concerned Citizens Movement, CCM) and the Nevis Renewal Party (Nevis Reformation Party, NRP) advocates both independence.
In the summer of 2013, a new party, the People’s Labor Party (PLP), was formed by some ministers who were on edge with the then Prime Minister Denzil Douglas (see Modern History). Later that year formed the PLP, PAM and CCM alliance, Unit Team (Unity Team), who won the election, 2015.
In terms of management, Saint Kitts and Nevis are divided into 14 smaller areas, parishes. Nine of them are on the main island and five on Nevis.
The judiciary and human rights
The judiciary is built on a British pattern. Local court decisions can be appealed to an East Caribbean Supreme Court in Saint Lucia. The highest court is the British Privy Council in London, but that function is to be taken over by the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice) regional court, which has its seat in Trinidad. CCJ has been around since 2005, but Saint Kitts and Nevis have not yet implemented the judicial reforms needed to replace the Supreme Court. CCJ’s main activity is to resolve disputes between the members of the Caribbean economic cooperation organization Caricom.
The crime rate is high. Like several of its neighboring countries, Saint Kitts and Nevis serve as a transhipment station for the extensive drug trafficking from South America to North America and Europe. The drug leagues do not withdraw to threaten judges and prosecutors and thus make the work of the judiciary more difficult.
The death penalty can be punished for serious violent crimes. The country’s only prison is built for 150 prisoners but usually houses many more.
