An appeal has been made for officials of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to intervene in the proceedings leading to the Public Services Association (PSA) election in November.
Accusing the current PSA president Watson Duke of having "sinister" intentions following the relocation of the election committee from the PSA head office at Abercromby Street to Frederick Street, the United Public Officers (UPO) are urging members to stand up and demand answers.
Highlighting their concerns during a media briefing at Port-of-Spain City Hall yesterday, the UPO, led by its presidential candidate Oral Saunders, appealed for independent observers from both the EBC and the various trade union movements to get involved and ensure the principles of fairness and natural justice are preserved during the PSA election process.
Concerned that Duke's decision to relocate the elections committee was costing PSA members approximately $26,000 per month, Saunders asked, "What is he hiding from the members?"
Saunders explained that in the past, the election committee has always been housed at the PSA office, thereby allowing all members to access the list of electors and submit queries.
He said the current arrangement did not allow members to easily access the list or question the operations of the committee.
Also alarmed that some of the members of the committee had been closely aligned to Duke during his past eight years as the PSA leader, Saunders questioned, "Is it time for pay-back now?"
Appealing to all PSA members to ensure their names were on the list of eligible voters, Saunders said the recent amalgamation of the major trade unions under one umbrella meant the time had come for a bi-partisan committee to be formed, comprised of officials from the various unions.
Saunders challenged Duke, "If everything is above board and there is nothing to hide, bring in an independent team to observe what is taking place."
Describing the November 27 election as the "mother of all elections," Saunders said they were also concerned about the finances of the PSA as recent developments pointed to the fact that the union may be experiencing difficulties as staff were not being paid on time as they should.
Having been denied a copy of the list of electors following a request to Duke last week, Saunders said the UPO will be approaching the EBC to follow-through with a proposal for them to act as independent observers. Attempts to reach Duke were unsuccessful.
