People’s National Movement (PNM) San Fernando West candidate Faris Al-Rawi says United National Congress (UNC) deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal can be jailed for wasting police time.
Speaking at a cottage meeting in Battoo Boulevard, Marabella on Thursday night, Al-Rawi denied he had committed any electoral crime by using #4 Ruth Avenue, San Fernando, as his residential address on the nomination forms filed with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
“Roodal Moonilal say he going and write a letter to the Commissioner of Police to tell them they think I have committed an electoral crime. I want to tell Moonilal tonight and I want T&T to know it because you will tweet it, you will...I am going to report Moonilal to the police for the crime of wasting the time of the police and that, my friend, he could make a jail for. Bat in your crease bossman,” Al-Rawi said as the audience cheered and waved red PNM flags.
He said that there were two laws that governed Members of Parliament and how they qualify. These are the Representation of the People's Act Chapter 2:01 and the Constitution of T&T, 1976, as amended.
“First of all the Constitution has two sections, section 47 and section 48 and all that the Constitution says is that you have to be 18 years old, you have to be resident in T&T, you have to have no electoral crimes under your belt and you have to be somebody who is not an undischarged bankrupt. That means you ent thief nobody or lose all your business,” Al-Rawi said.
Saying he was born in T&T, Al-Rawi said it didn’t matter where he lived.
“I was born right here and my name is Faris Al-Rawi. I am over 18. I have resided in T&T for a period of at least two years immediately preceding the date of my nomination. I live here my whole life. I am not, by virtue of any act or acknowledgement or allegiance, obedient or adherent to any foreign state or power. I don’t have dual nationality. I am not a citizen of another state. I am not an undischarged bankrupt. I am not insane, they know that because I am a member of the PNM. I am not a person with a sentence of death imposed upon me. I am not serving a sentence of imprisonment for 12 months. So how can they challenge my candidacy?” Al-Rawi asked.
He also questioned how Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie got certified as a member of the UNC 24 hours before his nomination when he was a member of the Congress of the People. Al-Rawi also noted that his Independent opponent Jowelle De Souza had listed her address as #58 Independence Avenue, San Fernando.
Al-Rawi said he spent half of his time in San Fernando and the other half in Port-of-Spain. He also noted that he practised law in both places. On Thursday, Moonilal told supporters at a cottage meeting in Ste Madeleine that he planned to report Al-Rawi to the police for making a false declaration on his nomination form.