UNC chair: No formal talks on Morne Diablo/Quinam by-election

THE Opposition UNC has not had any official talks on a by-election for the Morne Diablo/Quinam district in the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC).

UNC chairman Davendranath Tancoo made this comment on Friday.

He also said the party's preparations for that by-election may not be influenced by any appeal by the party over the High Court's dismissal of the election petition for the Lengua/Indian Walk district, which falls under the Princes Town Regional Corporation (PTRC).

Justice Marissa Robertson dismissed the UNC’s election petition on Thursday.

The UNC filed the petition on August 21, after two recounts which led to PNM candidate Autly Granthume's being announced the winner over the UNC’s Nicole Gopaul-Jones on election night, August 14.

Granthume initially received 1,430 votes compared to Gopaul-Jones’s 1,425. At the end of the first recount, each candidate received 1,428 votes.

The returning officer rejected a special ballot in favour of Gopaul-Jones – which would have broken the tie. Her election agent and counting agent objected, but this was overruled and a second recount was done, resulting in the same deadlocked outcome.

Gopaul-Jones challenged the rejection of the ballot, insisting it was valid and ought to have been counted, which would have led to her being elected.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) maintained its reasoning for rejecting the ballot as required by election rules under the Representation of the People Act.

In subsequent correspondence, the EBC claimed Gopaul-Jones’s representative only objected after they realised the recount had ended in a stalemate.

It was the EBC’s position that Gopaul-Jones did not secure the majority of votes after the preliminary count and the two recounts, nor was any vote wrongly rejected. It also argued that the special ballot was correctly rejected, since it did not have the returning officer’s initials, as required by the election rules.

The UNC has signalled its intention to appeal the judgment.

The Morne Diablo/Quinam district became vacant on December 22 when its councillor, Ramnath Diptee, died. Diptee was also PDRC chairman.

UNC officials said then that the party would plan for a by-election in the new year.

On Friday, Tancoo said, "The (UNC) national executive has not had a formal discussion on the by-election for Quinam/Morne Diablo.

"Whether there is an appeal of the court's decision re Lengua, or an election is called by the Prime Minister for one or both seats, the UNC is confident of victory in both seats, given the absolute failure of this government in every metric used to measure government performance."

In a statement issued after the judgement on January 12, Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi said, "In accordance with our democratic principles, the PNM abides by the court process and due process and welcomes this development."

Al-Rawi, who is also PNM PRO, added, "The timing of an election is a matter for the Honourable Prime Minister."

One option available to Dr Rowley would be to wait until the conclusion of the Lengua/India Walk appeal and hold both by-elections on the same day.

Sources said this may be more feasible than having the two by-elections separately.