PSA elections on hold

A High Court judge has agreed to stop members of the Public Services Association (PSA) from voting in tomorrow’s elections.

One of the teams contesting the polls–the PSA Fixers–sought an emergency injunction on Friday to stop the union’s 14,000 members from voting, claiming a breach of election rules and the union’s constitution.

The Fixers, led by Solomon Gabriel who is also contesting the presidency, has accused the union’s elections committee of allowing voters who are not eligible to vote. In an oral ruling delivered by video conferencing on Friday, Justice Frank Seepersad said any change to be made to any of the constitutional provisions had to be done strictly in accordance with the constitution.

“The provisions of the constitution should never be compromised and those in charge of the executive of the union should never be permitted to alter or change the process,” he said. “At this stage, the court has deep-rooted concerns that the list of voters has been compromised.”

The judge was in San Fernando when he gave his ruling while members of the PSA Fixers were in court in Port of Spain.

Also in court were members of the other teams which are contesting the elections, including incumbent president Watson Duke who is due to hold a press conference today.

Gabriel accused the executive of engaging in “strong-man behaviour” with members and of padding the voters’ list.

The Fixers said on October 5 a special general council meeting was held where a motion was moved to allow members who had not paid their dues to do so and were placed on the list of electors contrary to Rule 7 of the PSA constitution. These workers included those from the Airports Authority, for whom the PSA was recently given permission to represent.

The team said according to the rule a person is not eligible to vote unless they are a financial member for 12 months at the date of the election. They also contended that some members were not in good financial standing as they were paying the previous membership fee of $50 and not $100, which was increased in May 2015.

The PSA election committee has argued that the members being questioned, some 200 of them, were not new and have always been union members, even if they were not in good financial standing.

In granting the injunction, Seepersad ordered the PSA to provide the minutes of the October meeting tomorrow.

The matter has been adjourned to Tuesday when it will be heard by Justice Nadia Kangaloo at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain.