| Nevis Angling for More Autonomy |
By BBC - Caribbean
July 3, 2007
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| The Nevis Island Administration wants lawyers in the country to help it move forward the process of greater autonomy for the legislature of the smaller partner in the St Kitts/Nevis federation. |
Under the Vance Amory-led Concerned Citizens Movement the authorities in Nevis had been pushing for full secession.
But the current administration led by Joseph Parry isn't going down that route - it prefers greater autonomy for Nevis within the ambit of the federal |
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| Legal Advisor Patrice Nisbett has called on members of the legal fraternity in the country to assist in that process. |
| The Nevis island Administration wants to know just how much legislative power it has at the moment, to inform its bid for increased legislative autonomy. |
| Nevis having more power to flex its legislative muscle is something that would require the approval of the federal parliament in the Kittitian capital Basseterre through a two thirds majority. |
| Nevisian officials say there are indicators that the political will exists there to make this happen. |
| So do they have specific areas they are targeting in terms of devolution? |
| "We would want to give the Nevis Island Legislature legislative competence over matters such as education. We would want to be in a position to vote in our local Parliament and be in a position to pass laws governing our education system in Nevis and at present you cannot do that," Legal Advisor Nisbett explained. |
| A committee has been set up to facilitate the process. |
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