PDP camps out in THA building after deadlock vote

The Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) has described as “an abuse of power,” the decision of Clerk of the Assembly Myrna Mc Leod to prematurely suspend Monday’s special meeting of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) without electing a presiding officer.

As a result, the six PDP assemblymen led by political leader and representative for Roxborough/Delaford Watson Duke, have vowed to remain in the assembly’s chamber until Mc Leod reconvenes the meeting, with the six PNM assemblymen present, to elect a presiding officer.

After taking their oaths of office at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort, Lowlands on January 28, the PNM and PDP assemblymen failed to elect a presiding officer in the Assembly Legislature, Scarborough.

The PNM had nominated Tobago Regional Health Authority chairman Ingrid Melville while the PNM nominated Division of Sport and Youth Affairs officer Julien Skeete.

On Monday, after several rounds of voting for Skeete and Melville, there was another deadlock and Mc Leod adjourned the sitting to Thursday at 1.30pm.

She did so shortly after PNM assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine revealed that the party was offering a new candidate for presiding officer.

The Lambeau/Signal Hill representative did not immediately reveal the name of the candidate in the House but later told reporters the nominee is veterinarian Dr Kern Johnson.

Johnson had offered himself as a PNM candidate for the Tobago East seat in the August 10 general election but was rejected in favour of Ayanna Webster-Roy.

But speaking with reporters outside of the Assembly Legislature, the PDP accused Mc Leod of making several procedural blunders with respect to the election of a presiding officer and the manner in which nominations for the position is carried out.

The party’s deputy political leader Farley Augustine recalled after the members were sworn in on January 28, they met at the assembly, under the leadership of the Clerk of the Assembly, who, by virtue of the law and the Standing Orders, takes charge until such time as a presiding officer is elected.

“The meeting on Thursday was aborted and I had to write to the clerk...to inform her that she was not in the right legally to abort such a meeting,” he said.

“Fast-track, the meeting continued this morning (Monday) and again the clerk...has decided to abort the meeting.

“She gave a date and I am not sure under whose authority she is operating to give this new date, and under whose authority she is operating to abort the meeting.”

Augustine, who retained the Speyside/Parlatuvier/L’Anse Fourmi seat for a second term, made it clear that no debate is allowed with the election of a presiding officer.

“We are supposed to just get the nominees and vote until one is selected.”

He said the THA Act does not permit long adjournments but is designed for participants to keep nominating and voting.

"What I believe the framers wanted was a process that would wear people out – a sense of urgency. If you have a tie and you can't break the tie, they want you to go and go again until...At a certain point after wearing yourself out, something has to give."

Augustine noted assemblymen voted seven times for two candidates, "but based on the Standing Orders we should at least have voted eight times before going to a break."

He claimed the clerk has not been following the standing orders on the election of a presiding officer.

It reads: "If the proposal is negative, the clerk shall propose a like question in respect of any other member or person who has been proposed and seconded in the order in which they were proposed until the question is carried in favour of one of the members or other persons proposed.”

Augustine said Mc Leod was supposed to keep the vote going until one of the members was elected or other candidates proposed.

“But what they sought to do was to just stand and say, ‘I have another nominee,’ in the hopes that they will trigger the last part of number six (standing orders) – other persons proposed.”

He claimed there were also procedural flaws in nominating candidates by the PNM with a person proposing or seconding a motion being allowed to nominate a second candidate.

“But the clerk allowed it. And the clerk immediately upon that motion just suspended the House until Thursday.

“We should stay here until however long it takes……This is Tobago people business and this notion that we will try to meet once a week, once in a while, does not reflect the kind of urgency with which this demands.

“So, is either we want to solve it or we want to come today and come a few days after, which will suit their corrupt desire to keep the undemocratic Executive Council going.”

PDP leader Watson Duke, in a Facebook live video, issued a plea for supporters to bring food and drink for their vigil.

"When the Parliament in Trinidad has something serious they spend the entire night. Now we have something serious you have the PNM six treating this as a joke. After one hour they waltz out of here claiming to come back quite Thursday? Why not tonight?"

Showing the half-empty chamber he added, "This is your assembly. Here we have one side empty and you have another side ready to do work...Six in their suits ready to do work and the next six gone and play golf, sip tea or perhaps on some zipline."

Augustine said the PDP has taken steps to bring the impasse before the court for interpretation.

He said they had specifically requested that their lawyers view the live footage of the meeting “so they could take note of every aspect of the procedure.”

Augustine added: “We know they were up to some kind of trickery because trickery is their hallmark. But we thought, hold off from going to court because something going to come up today (Monday) and include the issues you see as part of your summation.”

He said the PDP is not being adversarial in asking for an interpretation in the court.

“It is just saying to the court, this legal quagmire that we have found ourselves in, you be the arbiter and determine how we are supposed to operate so that the clerk just does not operate as she feels like.”

The PNM and the PDP won six electoral districts each in the January 25 THA election.

It was the first time in the assembly’s history that the result of the election has ended in deadlock.