One ought not to look too far in calling yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling on the UNC’s election petitions a “victory” since three different judges had three different points of view on the matter, says Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi.
“I had hoped this matter would have been dealt with today (yesterday) but... there were three different versions of reasons given by the senior judges of the Court of Appeal,” Al-Rawi said while speaking to reporters outside the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, following yesterday’s judgment.
At his side was Tunapuna MP Esmond Ford, one of the six PNM MPs whose constituencies are at issue in the UNC’s petitions. Al-Rawi said Commonwealth law did not lie with the majority of the Court of Appeal’s ruling. He added: “This is very much new ground but this is justice and T&T has the prerogative to deal with it.
“At the end of the day, we feel very confident we are going to have a victory and about our prospects when the matter is heard (in the court again). On public trust in the Government following the ruling, Al-Rawi said on one hand while clarification of the law was welcome, “on the other hand the issue of stability in T&T is another factor.”
He said the view by the Chief Justice, whose position the other two judges disagreed with, was one which the PNM shared. He said: “We believed this was not a matter that leave (to be heard) ought to have been granted. I thought the rationale by the Chief Justice was clear, cogent and compelling.”
Al-Rawi, however, noted the CJ’s issues were in the minority and the other judges didn’t share his, “so it’s quite a novel position. “It is regrettable the majority of the Court of Appeal didn’t share the Chief Justice’s view but the judges are yet to explain themselves in writing so we will see what the full depth of their rationale really is. I would be very interested to see that first before further comment,” he added.
Noting the CJ’s view that the UNC’s pleadings in the matter were “hopeless,” Al-Rawi said those were not soft words by the CJ and was a strong view, “so one ought not to look too far into calling this thing a ‘victory.’ Suffice to say there were three different judges with three different points of view on a very important matter which is why we are confident of our position and that at the end of the day we will have the victory that is deserved in this.”
Acknowledging the ruling now means the UNC petitions return to the court to be heard, Al-Rawi said the Chief Justice had said mechanisms would be implemented for expeditious hearing. However, he said, there was also the Election and Boundaries Commission’s application to strike out the petitions, which will have to be heard first.
Al-Rawi also estimated there might a 1,000-odd witnesses in the petition matter since the PNM had 320-plus witnesses and he expected the UNC to have a similar number. The EBC may also have witnesses, he figured.
“How a judge manages about 1,000 witnesses expeditiously is going to be quite interesting,” he added. On how soon the matter might be heard, he said other such matters concerning former UNC MPs Winston Peters and Bill Chaitan had taken some time. There were also now six matters concerning the 2015 results before the courts and evidence would have to be led, he said. “I’m not confident this will be as expeditious as one would hope,” Al-Rawi added.