EBC: Aldermen list being sorted out

THE Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is in the process of sorting out the names of aldermen for the 14 local government corporations in Trinidad.

No aldermen have been appointed since the August 14 local government elections ended.

In a brief statement on August 25, the commission said it "received the names of the persons selected by the political parties and declarations in respect of aldermen are being issued today."

In a statement on June 23, the commission reminded parties and independent candidates to comply with section 12 A of the Municipal Corporations Act with respect to the nomination of candidates for aldermen.

Section 12A states, "Parties fielding candidates in an election under Section 11 (of the act) for a municipality or corporation shall, at the time of nomination of the candidates for councillors, nominate candidates for aldermen on a list to be known as the 'list of aldermen.'”

The EBC said, "The quantum of names on the list of aldermen to be submitted by each party in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be equal to the number of councillors to be elected in each council respectively."

Submissions for candidates for aldermen were to be done on form A-144 provided by the EBC. The deadline for the submission to EBC chief election officer Fern Narcis-Scope was June 26.

In the 2016 local government elections, the PNM got 32 aldermen while the UNC got 24.

In a statement on Thursday, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the UNC had so far been allocated 24 aldermen after the elections. Aldermen for the Arima Borough and Princes Town Regional Corporations had not yet been allocated.

Persad-Bissessar said UNC general secretary Peter Kanhai had submitted the names of the UNC appointees as aldermen to the commission, in accordance with the rules and procedures set out by the law.

Persad-Bissessar looked forward to the swearing-in of aldermen and the election of mayors and/or chairmen in the seven local government corporations that the UNC retained in the elections.

The UNC's local government coalition partner, the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), was allocated one alderman.

Persad-Bissessar said, "The EBC has made no allocation for aldermen in the Arima Borough and Princes Town Regional Corporation pending the final results."

A check of a recount in the Arima Northeast district resulted in the PNM winning. This gives the PNM all seven seats in the Arima Borough Corporation.

The UNC has taken the EBC to court after a second recount in the Lengua/Indian Walk district failed to break a tie there between the PNM and UNC.

The UNC is claiming a vote in that district, deemed invalid by the commission, should be validated and will resolve the tie in the UNC's favour. The PNM was initially declared as having won the district, which falls under the Princes Town Regional Corporation.