Editing Nevis (section)

===Secession movement===
[[Simeon Daniel]], Nevis' first Premier and former leader of the [[Nevis Reformation Party]] (NRP) and [[Vance Amory]], Premier and leader of the [[Concerned Citizens Movement]] (CCM), made sovereign independence for Nevis from the [[Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis]] part of their parties' agenda.<ref>[http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000020/002025.htm "Independence for Nevis still on the agenda, says premier."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060808185131/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000020/002025.htm |date=8 August 2006 }} ''Caribbean Net News'', 16 June 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref> Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1983, the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have been involved in several conflicts over the interpretation of the new constitution which came into effect at independence. During an interview on [[Voice of America]] in March 1998, repeated in a government-issued press release headlined "PM Douglas Maintains 1983 Constitution is Flawed", [[Prime Minister]] [[Denzil Douglas]] called the constitution a "recipe for disaster and disharmony among the people of both islands".<ref>Office of the Prime Minister (1998). [http://www.stkittsnevis.net/media/march98.html "PM Douglas Maintains 1983 Constitution is Flawed."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031022014943/http://www.stkittsnevis.net/media/march98.html |date=22 October 2003 }} Media Release, 11 March 1998. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref>

A crisis developed in 1984 when the [[People's Action Movement]] (PAM) won a majority in the Federal elections and temporarily ceased honouring the Federal Government's financial obligations to Nevis.<ref name="CCM" /> Consequently, cheques issued by the Nevis Administration were not honoured by the Bank, public servants in Nevis were not paid on time and the Nevis Island Administration experienced difficulties in meeting its financial obligations.<ref name="CCM">The Concerned Citizens Movement (1996). [http://go.to/nevisisland "The Way Forward For The Island Of Nevis." ''Nevis, Queen of the Caribees''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715181412/http://go.to/nevisisland |date=15 July 2006 }} Nevis Island Administration, September 1996. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref>

There is also substantial support in Nevis for [[British Overseas Territory]] status similar to [[Anguilla]]'s, which was formerly the third of the tri-state [[Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla]] colony.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mondaq.com/x/4365/offshore+financial+centres/Secession+The+Way+Forward+For+Nevis+St+Kitts|title=Secession – The Way Forward For Nevis & St. Kitts – Wealth Management – Nevis|website=mondaq.com|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=10 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510103822/http://www.mondaq.com/x/4365/offshore+financial+centres/Secession+The+Way+Forward+For+Nevis+St+Kitts|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Legislative motivation for secession====
In 1996, four new bills were introduced in the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, one of which made provisions to have revenue derived from activities in Nevis paid directly to the treasury in Saint Kitts instead of to the treasury in Nevis. Another bill, The Financial Services Committee Act, contained provisions that all investments in Saint Kitts and Nevis would require approval by an investment committee in Saint Kitts. This was controversial, because ever since 1983 the Nevis Island Administration had approved all investments for Nevis, on the basis that the constitution vests legislative authority for industries, trades and businesses and economic development in Nevis to the Nevis Island Administration.<ref name="Phillips">Phillips, Fred (2002). Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutional Law. Cavendish Publishing, 2002, {{ISBN|1-84314-429-8}}.</ref>

All three representatives from Nevis, including the leader of the opposition in the Nevis Island Assembly, objected to the introduction of these bills into the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, arguing that the bills would affect the ability of Nevis to develop its offshore financial services sector and that the bills would be detrimental to the Nevis economy. All the representatives in opposition in the National Assembly shared the conviction that the bills if passed into law, would be unconstitutional and undermine the constitutional and legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration, as well as result in the destruction of the economy of Nevis.<ref name="CCM"/>

The constitutional crisis initially developed when the newly appointed Attorney General refused to grant permission for the Nevis Island Administration to assert its legal right in the Courts. After a decision of the High Court in favour of the Nevis Island Administration, the Prime Minister gave newspaper interviews stating that he "refused to accept the decision of the High Court".<ref>''St. Kitts and Nevis Observer'' July 16–22, 1995. Qtd. in The Concerned Citizens Movement. "The Way Forward For The Island Of Nevis." ''Nevis, Queen of the Caribees''. Nevis Island Administration, September 1996.</ref> Due to the deteriorating relationship between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government, a Constitutional Committee was appointed in April 1996 to advise on whether or not the present constitutional arrangement between the islands should continue. The committee recommended constitutional reform and the establishment of an island administration for Saint Kitts, separate from the Federal Government.<ref name="Phillips" />

The Federal Government in Saint Kitts fills both functions today and Saint Kitts does not have an equivalent to the Nevis Island Administration. Disagreements between the political parties in Nevis and between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have prevented the recommendations by the electoral committee from being implemented. The problematic political arrangement between the two islands, therefore, continues to date.<ref name="Griffiths" />

Nevis has continued developing its own legislation, such as The Nevis International Insurance Ordinance and the Nevis International Mutual Funds Ordinance of 2004,<ref name="Finance">As reported by the Premier at the official Web site for [http://www.nevisfinance.com/About.cfm?Idz=1 Nevis Financial Services Departments and the Ministry of Finance, Nevis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514180802/http://www.nevisfinance.com/About.cfm?Idz=1 |date=14 May 2006 }}. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref> but calls for secession are often based on concerns that the legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration might be challenged again in the future.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

====Fiscal motivation for secession====
The issues of political dissension between Saint Kitts and Nevis are often centred around perceptions of imbalance in the economic structure.<ref>Anckar, Dag (2001). "Party systems and voter alignments in small island states". In ''Party Systems and Voter Alignments Revisited''. Eds. Lauri Karvonen and Stein Kuhnle. Routledge, 2001. {{ISBN|0-415-23720-3}}. p. 270: "To a historical rivalry between the islands must be added a structural economic imbalance".</ref> As noted by many scholars,<ref>See for example: Duval, David Timothy (2004). ''Tourism in the Caribbean: Trends, Development, Prospects''. Routledge, 2004. {{ISBN|0-415-30361-3}}, p. 102: "Nevis has claimed domination and exploitation by St Kitts and has come to view St Kitts as the 'larger omnipresent looming partner' (Premdas 2000). Such mistreatment (whether real or perceived), combined with the subordinate island's distinctive cultural and historical identity, has fostered an ambivalent relationship between internal core and periphery. These accusations and counter-attacks have been entrenched in the countries' collective memory and have, to some degree, permeated many aspects of society." See also: Phillips, Fred (2002). ''Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutional Law'' Cavendish Publishing, 2002. {{ISBN|1-84314-429-8}}: "In ''Freedom in the Caribbean'', reference was made to the long history of grievance nurtured by Nevis against St Kitts [ever since] imperial legislation brought Nevis into the unitary state of St Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla in 1882."</ref> Nevisians have often referred to a structural imbalance in Saint Kitts' favour in how funds are distributed between the two islands and this issue has made the movement for Nevis secession a constant presence in the island's political arena, with many articles appearing in the local press expressing concerns such as those compiled by Everton Powell in "What Motivates Our Call for Independence":<ref>Powell, Everton (Ed.) (2006). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060614041920/http://www.nevisindependence.com/ "What Motivates Our Call for Independence"]}}. Nevis Independence. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref> 
* Many of the businesses that operate in Nevis are headquartered in Saint Kitts and pay the corporate taxes to Saint Kitts, despite the fact that profits for those businesses are derived from Nevis.<ref name="CCM"/>
* The vast majority of Nevisians and residents of Nevis depart the Federation from Saint Kitts. This meant that departure taxes are paid in Saint Kitts.<ref name="CCM"/>
* The bulk of cargo destined for Nevis enters the Federation through Saint Kitts. Custom duties are therefore paid in Saint Kitts.<ref name="CCM"/>
* The largest expenditure for Nevis, approximately 29 per cent of the Nevis Island Administration's recurrent budget, is education and health services, but the Nevis Island Legislature has no power to legislate over these two areas.<ref name="CCM"/>
* Police, defense and coast guard are a federal responsibility. Charlestown Police Station, which served as the Headquarters for police officers in Nevis, was destroyed by fire in December 1991. Police officers initially had to operate out of the ruin, until the Nevis Island Administration managed to raise the resources to re-house the police.<ref name="CCM"/>
* Nevis experiences an economic disadvantage because of preferential treatment by the federal government for development of Saint Kitts. The division of foreign aid and various forms of international assistance toward development and infrastructure are especially contentious issues. Lists showing the disparities in sharing have been compiled by Dr. Everson Hull, a former Economics professor of Howard University, and are available online.<ref>Hull, E. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060515134454/http://www.nevisindependence.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1080376868&archive=&start_from=&ucat=& "Part I: Grabbing the Forgiven-debt Money."]}} and {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060515134545/http://www.nevisindependence.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1080376524&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2& "On the Money Trail – PART II"]}}. Nevis Independence. See also Powell, Everton (2006). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060618055453/http://www.nevisindependence.com/disparities.htm "Disparities in sharing"]}}. Nevis Independence. Retrieved 8 August 2006.</ref>

====1998 referendum====
{{See also|Nevis independence referendum, 1998}}
A referendum on secession from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was held in 1998. Although 62% voted in favor of a secession, a two-thirds majority would have been necessary for the referendum to succeed.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />