Condemnations of former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s plan to file an election writ to have the results of last Monday’s general election declared null and void have started coming in.
Joseph Remy, president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations (Fitun) was one of the first to do so, describing the coming election writ as obscene and flying in the face of logic.
In a media statement yesterday, Remy said Persad-Bissessar’s intention to file the election writ was unpatriotic and Fitun “would like to publicly condemn the latest attempt by the defeated former prime minister and her UNC cabal to challenge the decision of the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to extend the hours of voting to facilitate electors who were severely hampered by the heavy rainfall on Monday.”
The statement added: “We are also alarmed by her nonsensical call for the results of the election to be declared null and void.
“Fitun believes this challenge is another attack by the now disgraced UNC, on another of the country’s independent institutions, this time it is the EBC.
“This has been one of the negative hallmarks of the former government during their last five years in office.
“This current challenge is ludicrous and is symptomatic of the current dysfunctional and disheveled state of the UNC as a political entity.”
Remy said Fitun believed the decision of the EBC was well founded in law and done in circumstances where thousands of citizens were on the verge of being denied their right to vote, consistent with the provisions of the Constitution.
“In addition, the circumstances that hampered them were an act of nature and as such, this noble and dignified approach by the EBC must be commended, instead of being attacked,” he added.
He said even the Caricom Observer Group noted “the brave and bold step taken by the EBC.”
Remy said Fitun calls on Persad-Bissessar “to withdraw immediately this frivolous and vexatious challenge to the EBC’s decision and focus on the reasons that gave rise to the demise of her government.”
He said the former PM’s call for the annulment of the election results flies in the face of logic “and clearly demonstrates she and her UNC cohorts were so consumed with the abuse of state resources that they are still shell-shocked and in a state of despair since they can no longer feed off the state’s trough.”
Remy added: “Fitun demands that the former prime minister accepts the will of the people, withdraw her obscene challenge and allow the country to exhale and move on from the last five years of bad governance”.
Steve Alvarez, leader of the Democratic Party of T&T, echoed Remy’s condemnation.
He said: “We are a mature nation with intelligent people and we the people have spoken.
“It can be considered insulting to the people to challenge the decision of the population on the basis put forward by the UNC.”
Alvarez said if one were to be guided by the points made by the UNC the population would have to believe only PNM supporters were aware of the extension of voting hours.
“One would also have to believe that over 1,000 PNM supporters voted during that hour, as the results show the PNM leading in the marginal seats by over 1,000 votes.
“Additionally, one would have to assume the UNC had tangible evidence, perhaps through clairvoyance capability, that they were in fact leading in the polls at 6 pm before the counting of ballots started.
“Such nonsensical assumptions may resonate well with the core UNC supporters but is irresponsible and divisive,” Alvarez said.
Persad-Bissessar told UNC supporters at a Couva meeting on Wednesday night the election writ had been drafted already and called on anyone who encountered irregularities in voting to come forward.
She said they already had a list of witnesses and needed as many affidavits as they could get to build their case.