May 31, 2020
Under heavy pressure from the Legal Counsel of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and amidst widespread public condemnation, Dr. Timothy Harris was forced to remove the deceptive, offensive post from his Facebook page.
The misleading Facebook post on the official page of Dr. Timothy Harris had falsely asserted that:
“The State of Emergency instituted in response to COVID-19 is to remain in place and the borders are to remain closed. This is the ruling given on May 29, 2020 by The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis Circuit.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party did not file an injunction with the High Court in order to lift the six-month State of Emergency. Rather, it was an injunction asserting that the Emergency Regulations were being used in a manner that was discriminatory; that the regulations were disproportionate and were being used by the outgoing administration to give itself an unfair advantage during the political campaign leading to the June 5th General Election. It was also about ZIZ, a state-owned media house, not ensuring that all political voices were heard.
The SKNLP’s lawyers convincingly agitated for a level playing field and requested an undertaking from the Attorney General and ZIZ for a level playing field or otherwise they would pursue the injunction. The Attorney General and ZIZ Corporation had no choice but to accede to the request, which was made in the form of a Court Order. This Court Order has the same force and effect as an injunction. Any breaches by the defendants can result in contempt of court proceedings. All parties must now have access to equal airtime on state-owned media ZIZ. Shortly after receiving a letter from the lawyers on May 30, 2020, the misleading Facebook post on the personal page of Dr. Timothy Harris was immediately removed.
The effect of the ruling means that Team Unity loses its unfair political advantage under Harris’ State of Emergency.
Thanks to the SKNLP and the Court Order obtained, all Opposition political parties can now campaign freely without the Harris Administration manipulating the COVID-19 Regulations to suppress the Opposition Labour Party who is currently leading in the campaign and is poised to win.