MSJ questions PM's statement on EBC

Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) head David Abdulah is questioning whether the Prime Minister has "cocoa in the sun" after he strongly opposed the Election and Boundaries Commission's (EBC) recent move to have election returning officers declare if they are members of a political party.

In a virtual press conference on August 11, Abdulah cited Dr Keith Rowley's statement that the position was "absolutely unacceptable," asking if it's because it struck a nerve.

"Do you Dr Rowley and the PNM have cocoa in the sun over the years in that over the years, do you have persons who are members of your party functioning as returning officers in the many years of elections in TT going back post 1962 after we became an independent country?"

He went on to accuse Rowley and the PNM of having a culture and a practice "of attacking everybody and every institution or policy announcement that he and/or the PNM believes is not in the interest of the PNM."

"Whether it is in the interest of the country is a completely different story. Once he believes it is not in the interest of the PNM and so on then he comes out swinging and attacking the individual, the institution or the proposal or the policy as the case may be."

He said this is a tactic also used by the party's founder Dr Eric Williams who, in a lengthy to the parliament to TT, strongly critiqued recommendations of the Commission for Constitutional Reform chaired by former Chief Justice Sir Hugh Wooding.

"Dr Williams attacked, in particular, the position of proportional representation which had been recommended by the Wooding constitution commission and said it was a 'Dagger in the heart of the PNM.' So whether it was good for TT was not the point."

During a training session on general election coverage for reporters hosted by the Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) Media Institute of the Caribbean and the British High Commission on August 6, EBC chairman Mark Ramkerrysingh said it got legal advice from a senior counsel saying it could make the request of returning officers.

In a statement on his Facebook page, Rowley told returning officers not to comply with "this strange and disturbing development at the EBC."

He said the PNM was not consulted on the position and opposed it. United National Congress chairman Dave Tancoo also expressed concern over the move.

While Abdulah questioned Rowley's statements against the policy, he agreed political parties should have been consulted on the move. Acknowledging a need to strengthen the electoral process, he suggested passing party finance regulations and campaign finance law which he believed would do more to ensure fairness than returning officers declaring their allegiances.