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CARICOM Accused of Stalling on Dominican Republic, Haitian Stateless Issue

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ST KITTS AND NEVIS  (WINN) – A local member of Parliament who is throwing his hat into the ring to become a head of government, is chastising the Caribbean Community – CARICOM – for allegedly moving too slowly on the Dominican Republic- Haitian statelessness issue.

Dr. Timothy Harris of Team Unity says the regional group should have moved much more speedily after learning of the Sept. 23 constitutional court ruling in Santo Domingo set to make stateless more than 210,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Harris was asked about the matter on Winn FM’s The Bigger Picture.

“CARICOM is taking a stand belatedly. CARICOM is losing its vitality, the office, the good office of CARICOM in relation to matters of governance is being undermined and is being whittled away,” Harris said.

“I draw that parallel to show what is CARICOM’s stance in the context of a motion of no confidence in St Kitts being out in abeyance for 11 months – ‘well it’s not a matter in which we engage,’”  said Harris, who heads the three-party parliamentary group that controls six of the eleven elected seats in the federal parliament.

Opposition MPs in Basseterre have repeatedly expressed disappointment that regional groupings CARICOM and the OECS have largely ignored the motion of no confidence in St Kitts and Nevis.

Harris said in relation to the Dominican Republic matter, that CARICOM had to be pushed into addressing the issue by former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.

“And I am saying that CARICOM must have a mechanism where on its own evaluation it responds quickly to challenges to constitutional and democratic order in member states – Haiti is a member of CARICOM, Harris said.
Read the complete article on WINN

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