Imbert: UNC pretended not to know results on election night

PEOPLE'S National Movement (PNM) chairman Colm Imbert said just like his party, the United National Congress (UNC) was steadily receiving results on election night and so could not accuse the Prime Minister of secretly getting results beforehand when he declared a win, addressing a briefing at Balisier House, Port of Spain on Thursday.

Imbert also used the occasion to defend the electoral process as one used for 60 years and filled with safeguards against manipulation, in light of recounts initiated by the UNC in five marginal seats.

He said, on election night, the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) recorded all details of the tally of ballots in a document, statement of the poll (form 69), which was signed by EBC officials and the polling agents for each candidate of each party for each polling division, with a copy then distributed to each candidate/party. Further, each polling agent including those of the UNC monitored and scrutinised the election, including taking the name and consecutive number of each person voting, Imbert said.

He gave reporters a copy of form 69 from his constituency.

"On election night in Diego Martin North East and in every single constituency belonging to every single political party this document will be given after the votes are counted on election night. Each agent will communicate with their head office in their constituency and then with their head office for their political party.

"By ten o'clock on Monday night, Balisier House had the results in each one of 41 constituencies, based on this method which has been in existence for over 60 years.

"The UNC knows that."

Just as each PNM candidate had known his vote count, so too had all UNC candidates, he said. He said that is how the PNM would have known how the party was doing so that on reaching 21 seats Dr Rowley could declare a victory overall in TT, just as the UNC would also have known at the same time.

"Ten o'clock, 10.15 pm whenever the last one came in to establish who was to be in government and who was to be in opposition, both the political leaders of the PNM and the UNC would have had the information.

"So this concept that Dr Rowley would have somehow had some inside information – absolute nonsense."

Imbert said the UNC on Monday night would have known they had lost the election and the popular vote, and were very deceitful to have pretended to their supporters they had won.

Later, asked why the UNC might have done this, Imbert said this was likely because they had initially hyped up their supporters for victory.

He said at no time on election night had the UNC ever been ahead as the votes were being tallied, even as some television reports had suggested otherwise.