Government MPs: No EBC favours for PNM in Tobago

Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe and Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi have denied accusations that the Elections and Boundaries Commission’s (EBC) favoured the People's National Movement (PNM) in its creation of 15 electoral districts ahead of the next Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election.

The government ministers were speaking during debate in Parliament on Wednesday on the motion moved by the Prime Minister to adopt the EBC's re-aligning of the electoral districts in Tobago.

Dr Rowley brought the motion to consider the draft EBC (Local Government and Tobago House of Assembly) (Tobago) Order, 2021 as the Government hopes to end the unprecedented six-six tie in the THA between the PNM and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP).

The order was passed with 21 government MPs agreeing and 18 opposition MPs objecting.

In January the tied outcome of the THA elections saw no selection of a presiding officer to continue the work of the THA. To address this, the Government brought the Tobago House of Assembly (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to Parliament in February.

In July the EBC was mandated to create 15 electoral districts in order to amend the THA from 12 seats to 15, paving the way to call fresh elections.

Cudjoe told the House that while Trinidad had two ties after general elections in 1995 and 2001, Tobago had never had one and there was no precedent to look to settle such a conundrum.

She added that the Government needed to do what was necessary to end the tie, as the law does not give the THA such powers.

“What were we supposed to do, wait out the four years? The development in Tobago is in limbo.”

She dismissed the claims that the 15 seats favoured the PNM, saying the increased seats came from consultation with the Tobago people and not a mandate of the PNM.

During his contribution, Al-Rawi said the existing 12 seats derived from the county council system, where one Tobago county council seat was transformed into the 12 districts. He added that this was done smoothly just like the addition to three seats in the Chaguanas/Caroni areas, and no one was accused of having this done to favour any political party.

In concluding the debate, Rowley said the suggestion by the UNC that the THA council members could have adopted the standing order rulings of the House of Representatives could not apply.

He added that House of Representative rules for ending a tie could not be superimposed on the THA since the THA had no provisions in its laws for such a measure.

Just before Rowley spoke, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the THA Act allows for  reverting to the House of Representative standing orders whenever there is an irresolvable issue.

“The standing orders of the THA says where there is silence in a particular matter, you revert to the standing orders of the House of Representatives. The THA itself says that in their standing orders.”

Persad-Bissessar added that the 15 seats may create another problem where three parties each gain five seats, creating another deadlock. Rowley countered that the three-way tie would be broken easily since one party’s suggestion would be rejected by the other two, creating a ten:five ratio.

In objecting to the EBC’s draft proposal, Persad-Bissessar said: “This order is conspicuously unfair in the manner in which they arrived at the order. We reject outright this order and I have no doubt when challenged in courts that this order will be struck down by the Supreme Court of TT.”