Opposition leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, says she has taken note of the false narrative and misleading claims that the UNC has not been holding the Government to account over its very worrying failure to lay the 2024 EBC report in Parliament.
This, she said via a release, is furthest from the truth.
She said the UNC has been consistently raising this matter and will continue to do so, in and outside of the Parliament.
“As per the Hansard record, on 18 March 2024, I stated in the House of Representatives:
“The Government is in breach of the Constitution once again, by its failure to lay in this House, the report of the Elections and Boundaries Commission” which was due in March (Hansard, Unrevised House Debate.” – Monday March 18, 2024 – 1:30 p.m.
Further, she said, a Motion on the Adjournment of the Senate by Senator Wade Mark was accepted by the President of the Senate on 22 March 2024, regarding:
“The need for a status update on the Report of the Elections and Boundaries Commission on the Review of Constituency Boundaries pursuant to Section 72 of the Constitution.”
“Also, following the ongoing ominous silence from the Rowley Administration on this critical issue, by letter dated April 1, 2024, I have had cause to formally write to the CEO and Commissioners of the Elections and Boundaries Commission seeking explicit clarification of whether the EBC has fulfilled its mandate in law to supply the relevant report to the Government, stating, in part, that:
“We are of the view that the EBC’s deadline for the submission of the 2024 Boundary Report to the Prime Minister and the Speaker has passed.
In light of the passage of the EBC’s constitutional deadline to submit the 2024 Boundary Report, can you confirm the following:
1. The date of the 2024 Boundary Report;
2. The date on which the 2024 Boundary Report was submitted to the Prime Minister and the Speaker.
Persad-Bissessar said this will clearly identify where specific responsibility lies in regard to the failure to have the overdue EBC report laid in Parliament and will guide the UNC’s subsequent steps to ensure public accountability in this matter.
“It is therefore false and misleading to claim that the UNC has not questioned the Government on this report.
“I reiterate that this issue is a matter of grave national concern and significance. It can affect the outcome of the next general elections, and the overall political stability of Trinidad and Tobago, given the possible highly questionable changes to electoral boundaries that the report may propose.”
Persad-Bissessar said that in 2021, following the 6-6 deadlock tied results in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Elections, the Rowley Government arbitrarily and very questionably passed the highly controversial THA Amendment bill in Parliament, to increase Tobago’s electoral seats from 12 to 15.
“Back then, in a statement condemning this move dated February 1, 2021, I stated:
“(Prime Minister’s Rowley’s suggestions for ending the THA impasse are contrary to the existing law of Trinidad and Tobago and contrary to the democratic will of the people of Tobago.
We do not support the suggestions made by him. The Prime Minister is totally wrong.
There is no need for Parliamentary intervention to change the law. There is no need for EBC intervention to change boundaries.
The existing law as contained in the THA Act and the THA Standing Orders is very clear and explicit about what needs to be done in the current situation.
The use of the existing law to break the THA tie will permit a new Executive Council to be appointed thereby ensuring that the democratic will of the people is respected.”
In this context, I remain adamant that any new arbitrary boundary changes by the EBC can have negative effects on who forms the next government of Trinidad and Tobago.”
She added that notably, in the past decade, the UNC has consistently, and successfully, challenged several of the EBC’s arbitrary decisions regarding general elections.
The UNC leader said they employing similar vigilance regarding any upcoming proposed, arbitrary boundary change of EBC that can be deemed biased towards the PNM, and contrary to our democracy and Constitution.
According to Persad-Bissessar, the UNC will continue to hold the Government and the EBC to account for the 2024 report and advise the national community accordingly.