BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 29TH, 2016 (PRESS SEC) – Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris announced today, Wednesday, June 29th, 2016, that the Government of National Unity intends to nominate Mr. A. Michael Perkins as Speaker of the St. Kitts and Nevis Federal Parliament.
This will occur at the next sitting of Parliament, which is scheduled to convene tomorrow, Thursday, at 10:00am.“Among the legislative matters set to be addressed in this session are the BAICO Bill and the Advanced Passenger Information Screening (APIS) Bill, as well as the election of a new Speaker of the House,” the Prime Minister said this afternoon at his press conference.Prime Minister Harris then explained that Mr. Perkins had tendered his resignation as Senator earlier in the day.
This resulted in the Deputy Speaker position falling vacant, as per Section 32(6) of the Constitution. Mr. Perkins was elected Deputy Speaker on May 14th, 2015 during the inaugural sitting of the Parliament under the Government of National Unity, pursuant to the Constitution.
“The new vacancy for the post of Deputy Speaker will be addressed at the subsequent sitting of Parliament,” Prime Minister Harris added.On May 11th, 2016, the Federal Cabinet issued a statement, announcing, “with regret that the Hon. Franklin R. O. Brand, Speaker of the National Assembly, has resigned his post due to health reasons.”
Cabinet’s statement continued: “It was noted by a Cabinet spokesperson that Mr. Brand had been facing health challenges for some time, which resulted in the proceedings of the National Assembly being chaired for some time by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Senator Michael Perkins.”On May 14th, 2015, Mr. Franklin Brand was inaugurated Speaker during the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament under the Team Unity Administration, which won a resounding election victory on February 16th, 2015.