Saint Kitts and Nevis’ official name is Federation of Saint Kitts, also named Saint Christopher and Nevis. The country has been an independent commonwealth realm since independence in 1983 with Queen Elizabeth II as the chief of state. The government is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign democratic federal state, where a designated governor general acts as a representative of the monarch. The governor general performs on the prime minister’s counsel.

Citizens aged 18 years and above are eligible to vote in the general elections. These elections are conducted after five years when the national assembly is dissolved by the governor general on the advice of the Prime Minister. Election campaigns in Saint Kitts and Nevis are usually short because a notice of an election is given for a minimum of three weeks and a maximum of six weeks to the election. The political party that gains the highest number of constituencies forms the government. The leader of that party then becomes the prime minister.

The parliament of Saint Kitts and Nevis is called the National Assembly. It has fifteen members. Eleven of them are voted in to serve for five years, while three senators are appointed by the governor general. The legislature is a unicameral parliament and sessions take place in the government headquarters located on Church Street, Basseterre.

Saint Kitts and Nevis operate on a two-party system. Historically, there have been two dominant political parties namely the People’s Labour Party and Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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