Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah yesterday took Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to task after she announced on Wednesday that discussions would be held on the possibility of delaying local government elections. Abdulah, speaking with the T&T Guardian by telephone, said the Prime Minister cannot back out on her public commitment to hold the elections on time. “They can run from the electorate but they cannot hide and ultimately the electorate will catch up with them and vote them out,” he said. He said for several weeks Persad-Bissessar has been pledging that she would not delay the elections, which are due within three months of the expiration of the life of the regional councils. “Furthermore, both in the manifesto for local and general elections in 2010, a commitment was made that local government elections will be held when they are constitutionally due. Therefore, any consideration of postponement would be a major violation of all of these public commitments,” Abdulah said.
The MSJ leader said one of the reasons for the delay may be that former councillors’ “desire to try to do more projects in their electoral districts.” “This is an indication of an abuse of state resources for electioneering and demonstrates the bankruptcy of the UNC, which depends on patronage and nepotism for political support,” he said. On Wednesday night, Persad-Bissessar, speaking with reporters after a five-hour meeting with the United National Congress (UNC) national executive and parliamentary arm at the party’s Rienzi Complex, Couva, headquarters, said she would be engaging in discussions with her coalition partners on the calling of the elections. The PM said a suggestion to delay the elections was made by one of the UNC councillors during the party’s parliamentary arm meeting. However, she declared that no formal decision had been taken by her party on whether the elections, which are due before the end of October, would be delayed. “I would prefer not to comment on that until I have further discussions with others. We have taken no such decision,” she said.
While she said it was her “honest belief” that elections should be held when they are constitutionally due, she said “at the same time I have to listen a little more now than I did before, so I will be guided by the realities and the consensus that we have coming out of the ground at this point in time.” She said if a decision is taken to delay the elections she would have to seek the approval of the Parliament. “It does only require a simple majority in the Parliament, not a special majority. For my own self I am not inclined so to do, because I always feel for democracy we always have to hold elections when the elections are due, but then again I will be guided by others,” she said. The Prime Minister said there were several reasons put forward in the meeting to delay the election. She said the issue of constitutional reform being pursued at the moment and the local government reform White Paper, which is on the Cabinet’s desk to legislate for, were cited as reasons for delaying the elections. She said the third “compelling argument is coming from the President that a referendum be held at the same as the local government elections on the issue of the CCJ (Criminal Court of Justice).” “So we will have to consider all of these sorts of things. If that is to be the case then we will need more time. If the referendum is to be held and we will also consider another suggestion—a referendum on the death penalty,” she said.