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Opposition walkouts in Trinidad and St. Kitts ignite regional alarm over partisan Speakers, eroding trust, and growing threats to democratic integrity across the Caribbean.

— Times Caribbean Analysis —

By Times Caribbean Political Desk
October 11, 2025

Two separate parliamentary walkouts — one in Trinidad and Tobago and another in St. Kitts and Nevis — have sent shockwaves through the region’s political landscape this week, reigniting fierce debates about the impartiality of parliamentary Speakers and the state of democratic accountability in the Caribbean.

From Port of Spain to Basseterre, opposition benches have risen in protest, accusing presiding officers of bias, procedural manipulation, and contempt for parliamentary norms — a troubling trend that analysts warn could erode the very foundations of representative governance.

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TRINIDAD: WALKOUT OVER ‘BIASED SPEAKER’

In Trinidad’s House of Representatives, the Opposition Peoples National Movement (PNM) staged a dramatic exit on Friday evening, accusing the Speaker of persistent partiality and “uneven application” of parliamentary rules.

According to the Opposition’s post-walkout statement, the Speaker has repeatedly rejected their Urgent and Prime Minister’s Questions while permitting Government MPs to “shout, disrupt, and engage in unparliamentary behaviour without restraint.”

“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially and to uphold the Constitution and the Standing Orders,” the statement read, describing the situation as “untenable” and warning that the Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer, but of the people.

Political observers in Port of Spain describe the episode as part of a widening crisis of confidence in the Caribbean’s parliamentary traditions, where accusations of “referee bias” are now common across legislatures once heralded as bastions of British-style procedural discipline.

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ST. KITTS: THREE YEARS OF MINUTES — ONE OUTRAGEOUS VOTE

Meanwhile, in Basseterre, St. Kitts, a separate storm erupted inside the National Assembly as former Prime Minister and current PLP Leader, Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris, staged a lone but powerful walkout in protest over what he termed a “mockery of parliamentary procedure.”

For more than three years, no parliamentary minutes had been tabled or approved — an omission that spanned over 27 sittings, including three national budgets. In a stunning move, the Speaker of the National Assembly attempted to approve three years’ worth of minutes in a single sitting, prompting Harris to denounce the decision as a “flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition.”

“The approach we are taking here has no basis in law or custom. The minutes must be taken one by one, with members given an opportunity to review and correct them. To pass years of minutes en bloc is absurd and dangerous,” Dr. Harris declared before walking out of the chamber.

Observers have described the episode as a “Guinness World Record-level disgrace” — the first known instance in modern democratic history of a parliament going three years without confirming its minutes.

The controversy has sparked public outrage and intensified calls for the Speaker’s resignation, with critics accusing her of gross negligence and contempt for democratic transparency.

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A REGIONAL PATTERN OF ERODING DEMOCRATIC NORMS

Though the incidents occurred in different nations, analysts see a disturbing pattern. Across the Caribbean, there is growing disillusionment with the way parliaments are being conducted — Speakers accused of political loyalty over neutrality, governments accused of weaponizing procedure, and oppositions increasingly forced to walk out rather than be shouted down.

Dr. Marcia Ferdinand, a regional governance analyst, described the twin walkouts as “symptoms of a deeper malaise.”

“When parliamentary chairs begin to act as political shields rather than constitutional referees, democracy becomes theatre, not governance,” she remarked.

The Caribbean’s Westminster systems, long admired for order and decorum, are now grappling with rising partisanship and the erosion of institutional checks and balances.

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THE MESSAGE FROM BOTH PARLIAMENTS: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

In both Port of Spain and Basseterre, the message from the Opposition benches was clear: Democracy cannot function when fairness is replaced by favoritism.

In Trinidad, Opposition MPs vowed to continue their protest until the Speaker demonstrates impartiality. In St. Kitts, Dr. Harris’s walkout has reignited national debate over the competence and credibility of the current Speaker, whose leadership has already faced scrutiny over procedural failures and perceived disdain for accountability.

As one political columnist put it:

“From St. Clair to Sandy Point, the Caribbean’s parliaments are on trial — not by the Opposition, but by history itself. The question is whether our democratic referees can still play fair.”

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