(Trinidad Guardian) What if the Elections and Boundaries Commission was wrong in its decision to extend polling by one hour in Trinidad during the September 7 general elections. That is the question the court must decide before any other national election is held in this country, new Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said after receiving her instruments of appointment from President Anthony Carmona at his office in St Ann’s.
Several former ministers, including Roodal Moonilal, Surujrattan Rambachan, Tim Gopeesingh, Christine Hosein and Fazal Karim were present for the ceremony. Notable absent were COP leader Prakash Ramadhar and TOP leader Ashworth Jack but NJAC leader Kwasi Mutema was present.
Persad-Bissessar was forced to tell those present before the event began that its late start was due to no fault of her own.
She said the delay was due to a request from President Carmona to meet with her before the event got underway. Persad-Bissessar said tweets about her being late for the event were false as she was there on time. She then left the room for the meeting with the President, minutes later she arrived for the ceremony to begin.
Persad-Bissessar said the legal challenge to the EBC decision was in the interest of all citizens. “It is in the national interest to have a determinative ruling from the courts as to the parameters of the EBC’s powers under section 71 of the Constitution and under the Representation of the Peoples Act,” she insisted.
In response to criticism of the UNC move, Persad-Bissessar said: “We should not be criticised for doing what is right and lawful under our democracy.” The Opposition Leader said: “The decision of the court in these matters will provide certainty and clarity for future elections.”
She said: “It is better to use the avenue of challenge provided by the Constitution than to harbour lingering doubts and encourage seething resentment at what happened on the evening of 7th September, 2015. We have taken the hard road in the public interest in bringing these court matters.”
She insisted: “Before any other elections in this country, every person must know whether the extension was wrong or was right. Right now, no one knows for sure and there are as much arguments for as there are against. We will let the courts decide.”
Last Friday, in an emergency sitting, attorneys for UNC were granted leave to file the petitions by High Court Judge Mira Dean Amorer.
The UNC is claiming that the EBC’s rules and the Constitution only gave it the power to adjourn an election in instances of public violence and not the power to extend the traditional election timeframe of 6 am to 6 pm.
The Opposition is seeking to have the court declare the results in six marginal constituencies San Fernando West, La Horquetta/Talparo, Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph and Moruga/Tableland declared null and void. If successful, the court may order that by-elections be held or may possibly rule that a declaration that the EBC breached its powers be granted.
Yesterday, the former prime minister said based on the Constitution, all arms of the State must operate within their provisions. “One of the pillars of our Constitution is therefore the rule of law—governance and State activity according to law—not according to the “Divine right of Kings” or the arbitrary dictates of some self-proclaimed elitist group, masquerading as “independent,” she added.
She quickly added however that the rule of law “does not and cannot mean that our independent institutions must operate outside of their constitutional remit, or that their constitutional independence is a justification for what may be arbitrary or biased actions.”
She also responded to comments by “independent” commentators that the legal challenge to the election results was an exercise in futility and that the Opposition should just accept the results and move along.
Persad-Bissessar said she “respectfully disagrees with these so-called independent minds. I wonder if the proverbial shoe were on the other foot, what would they say?” Admitting that the voice of the people was the voice of God, Persad-Bissessar said it was “based on the rule of law, the voice of the people is heard by constitutionally mandated free and fair elections, conducted in accordance with certain and clear rules and overseen by an independent electoral institution.”
She said what if there was uncertainty in the exercise of a constitutional power by the body set up to oversee elections?
“What happens if the decision of the Elections and Boundaries Commission to extend the closing of the polls in Trinidad appears to be outside of the specific rules and laws governing the elections process?” She said there was Constitutional provision for a Representation Petition to the Court by an elector or by a candidate. “The Court, under our Constitution, has the important task of deciding these challenges and of interpreting our Constitution to set the legal limits of the EBC’s powers,” she insisted.
She also noted that the notion of restorative dialogue had become fashionable on public platforms in the recent past.. “We have past politicians, pseudo-politicians and those who should not be politicians, in this post-election period, mentioning this phrase of restorative dialogue like a mantra,” she added. But the new Opposition Leader said: “One cannot call for “Restorative Dialogue” while at the same time declaring one southern community as unfit to host a university campus because of its perceived isolation. Does one really expect restorative dialogue after such statements are made?”
Persad-Bissessar said while restorative dialogue is noble in its intent, “is it really applicable to the political realm in a liberal democracy, where not everyone is expected to share the same political views?” Without calling names, she then went on to say: “There are some who outwardly declare themselves “independent” of the necessary political tensions in our democracy.”
While acknowledging that she respected the rights of those people to express such a position, Persad-Bissessar said: “It should never be that independence means holding oneself apart and above the political masses.
Elitism in all its forms should have no place in a democracy that espouses the equality of all.” And the Opposition Leader said citizens who choose to openly declare their political allegiances “should not be looked down upon by others who hide their opportunism under the veil of neutrality and ‘none-of-the-above’.”
Persad-Bissessar said: “Nothing is wrong with taking a political side (as) that is what democracy is about.”
She added that: “Our politics, however, should never interfere with our personal and community relationships and our national patriotism and pride as one people (and) public displays of apparent independence should not be used as a mask for political activism.”
She said: “Sometimes those masks do slip, and those persons end up accepting political appointments despite the so-called independent institutions and offices they recently held.”
