Honour the will of the people.
This was the statement by the PNM’s attorney, Douglas Mendes, SC, as he called for five election petitions brought by the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) to be dismissed yesterday.
Presenting submissions in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday Mendes repeatedly told presiding judge, Mira Dean-Armorer, to reject the petitions in which the UNC is seeking by-elections.
Mendes said while the UNC was claiming that the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) was not permitted to grant the one-hour extension of the poll on September 7, last year, it had failed to prove the extension materially affected the outcome of the election.
Stating his client’s candidates would have still won the election even if all votes cast during the extension were subtracted from their totals, Mendes challenged the UNC’s contention that a numerical analysis of the election results was not vital in the case.
“They can not say that time is sufficient to invalidate the election without asking what happened next,” Mendes said, as he called on Dean-Armorer to use “common sense” when deliberating on the case.
Mendes also said elections were only invalidated in circumstances where persons intentionally attempt to pervert their outcome.
“The presiding officers were acting on the directions they received. The UNC did not show that they knew what they were doing was illegal,” Mendes said.
He also claimed that by-elections suggested by the UNC would “almost certainly” have a negative effect on the PNM and voters who supported it in elections.
“There may be a situation where the party in power and who now faces a by-election met a bare cupboard when it entered office and people are unhappy because it cannot pay back pay and contractors,” Mendes said.
In its petitions the UNC is seeking by-elections in five marginal constituencies—Tunapuna, St Joseph, Moruga/Tableland, Toco/Sangre Grande and San Fernando West.
A sixth petition was filed for La Horquetta/Talparo but it was dismissed at a preliminary stage due to an administrative error in filing it.
Mendes is expected to complete his submissions tomorrow and will be followed by the EBC’s legal team. Dean-Armorer is expected to deliver her judgment in the case next month.