Pan Trinbago to set date for election on April 17

PAN TRINBAGO’S extraordinary general meeting will be held on April 17. This comes after a petition calling for the executive’s removal was delivered on March 29.

The meeting will be held at the Communication Workers’ Union Hall at Henry Street, Port of Spain.

Discussion and the result of the petition; a motion and new date for election and the consequences of the motion are on the meeting’s agenda.

Sitting in front of Pan Trinbago’s office, Gerard Mendez, chairman of the northern region and Dane Gulston, panman and arranger, told Newsday, “The petition, which had been circulating since December 2016, was delivered to the central executive on Holy Thursday. It was delivered to the secretary and copied to the President.

“The petition was an attempt to deal with the central executive based on perceived shortcomings on their behalf and the abuse meted out to the fraternity.”

Mendez said whilst the president was rejecting the petition, “Karma has it today that they had to accept that petition.”

In keeping with the organisation’s constitution, Mendez said, since the petition bore signatures from 60 per cent of the financial members of the organisation, ‘The president shall summon a meeting of the fraternity within 14 days of the petition.”

Mendez said concerned members of Pan Trinbago and the group Concerned Individuals for Pan were pleased by the call for the extraordinary meeting.

When asked if a new date for the election will be set, Mendez said there is a suggestion to that effect and it is “very amenable to the fraternity that the election be brought forward.”

The election is currently scheduled for October. The fraternity will determine whether or not the election date will be brought forward at the meeting.

Mendez believes June would be the best time to host new elections, since: “It will give the different contenders for the office time to tell the fraternity why we should vote for them.”