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St Kitts and Nevis

Country in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea, part of the Leeward Islands.

Government

The islands of St Kitts (St Christopher) and Nevis form a federal state within the Commonwealth. The constitution dates from independence in 1983. The governor general is the formal head of state, representing the British monarch, and appoints the prime minister and cabinet, who are drawn from and responsible to the assembly.

There is a single-chamber national assembly of 14 members, 11 elected by universal suffrage and three appointed by the governor general, two on the advice of the prime minister and one on the advice of the leader of the opposition, for a term of up to five years.

Nevis Island has its own assembly of five elected and three nominated members, a prime minister and cabinet, and a deputy governor general. It has the option to secede in certain conditions laid down in the constitution.

History

The original American Indian inhabitants were Caribs. St Kitts (then called Liamuiga) and Nevis were named by Christopher Columbus in 1493. St Kitts became Britain's first West Indian colony in 1623, and Nevis was settled soon afterwards. France also claimed ownership until 1713. Sugar plantations were worked by slaves.

The islands were part of the Leeward Islands Federation from 1871 to 1956 and a single colony with the British Virgin Islands until 1960. In 1967 St Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla attained internal self-government within the Commonwealth as associated states, and Robert Bradshaw, leader of the Labour Party, became the first prime minister. In 1970 the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) was formed, calling for separation for Nevis, and the following year Anguilla, disagreeing with the government in St Kitts, chose to return to being a British dependency.

Bradshaw died in 1978 and was succeeded by his deputy, Paul Southwell. He died the following year, to be replaced by Lee L Moore. The 1980 general election produced a People's Action Movement (PAM)-NRP coalition government, with the PAM leader, Dr Kennedy Simmonds, as prime minister.

Independence

On 1 September 1983 St Kitts and Nevis achieved independence. In the 1984 general election the PAM-NRP coalition was decisively returned to office. PAM won six out of the 11 elective assembly seats in the 1989 general election and Dr Kennedy Simmonds continued as prime minister. Despite opposition calls for his resignation during 1993, Simmonds remained in office and in December, after an inconclusive general election, established a minority coalition government. Anti-government demonstrations followed. A snap general election in July 1995 resulted in a win for the Labour Party (SKLP) and its leader, Denzil Douglas, became prime minister. He was re-elected again in general elections in 2000.

In August 1998 a referendum on the island of Nevis, seeking secession from the federation, produced insufficient support and the government promised greater autonomy for the island.

Antilles Basseterre (St Kitts and Nevis)

Caribbean Community and Common Market Charlestown

Douglas, Denzil Nevis

Sombrero St Christopher-Nevis

West Indies West Indies, Federation of the