By-elections on July 16

UPDATE:

BY-ELECTIONS for the local government seats of Belmont East and Barataria will be held on Monday, July 16, said a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday. The seats became vacant after the deaths of councillors Pernell Bruno on July 8, 2017 and Darryl Rajpaul on November 18, 2017.

The statement said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley advised President Paula-Mae Weekes that Nomination Day will be on June 25 and requested that the writs of elections be issued in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act. Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen reacted to the Government’s announcement by saying Rowley should have called the by-elections earlier.

“We believe in democracy. The PM should have called it months ago.” Ameen, who is a deputy leader of the United National Congress, said one councillor had died over a year ago and in all that time his burgesses had been without representation.

“I think they (Government) didn’t call it because they were afraid of facing the polls. Public sentiment is very much against the Government right now.”

Ameen said local government is not governed by the Constitution, and there is no requirement for such by-elections to be called by a specific time. “I think three months after a councillor’s death is a reasonable time to call a by-election, but it is not legislated anywhere so the Prime Minister could have left it vacant.” She said the full, substantive Local Government election is due next year, but the delay in the by-election had caused her pause for thought.

“It makes me wonder if the PM will hold the 2019 election on time, or will he use local government reform as an excuse just as was done by former prime minister Patrick Manning.” She said the late Manning had postponed local elections four times, by which time the existing councillors’ three-year terms turned into a seven-year term.

ORIGINAL STORY:

BY-ELECTIONS for the local government seats of Belmont East and Barataria will be held on Monday, July 16, said a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

"Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley today advised President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes that by-elections for the municipal electoral districts of Barataria in the region of San Juan/Laventille and Belmont East in the Port-of-Spain Corporation will be held on Monday July 16, 2018."

These seats became vacant due to the deaths of Councillors Pernell Bruno on July 8, 2017 and Darryl Rajpaul on November 18, 2017.

"Prime Minister Rowley also advised the President that Nomination Day will be on June 25, 2018 and has requested that the writs of elections be issued in accordance with the provisions of Section 29 of the Municipal Corporations Act, Chapter 25:04," the statement added.

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