TRINIDAD-PM Rowley critical of EBC’s move to have returning officers declare party allegiance

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley Tuesday described as “absolutely unacceptable” a statement made by the chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Mark Ramkerrysingh, that returning officers will be asked to declare their party allegiance and membership before working in polling stations.

“The EBC’s position of questioning EBC staff about their vote is unacceptable,” Rowley wrote on his Facebook page, adding, “The vote in this country is secret, and no person in public employment must be forced to reveal how he or she voted or intends to vote.”

Rowley, the political leader of the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM), said, “Returning officers are not to comply with this strange and disturbing development at the EBC.

“The PNM, which has not been consulted on this matter, is resolutely opposed to this unnecessary and possibly illegal action,” Rowley said, asking, “Where did this come from?”

Opposition Leader and leader of the main opposition United National Congress (UNC) Kamla Persad Bissessar, who also expressed concerns about the report, told reporters she needs more information before making a complete statement.

Ramkerrysingh, speaking at a journalism workshop series titled: “Enhancing Ethical and Effective Election Coverage,” said that EBC had sought external legal advice from a senior counsel who provided an opinion that the EBC could make this request of returning officers.

Ramkerrysingh, who spoke on the role of the EBC in elections at the workshop being hosted by the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) and the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) in collaboration with the British High Commission here, said the EBC selects 41 returning officers.

When asked about steps to ensure the transparency of returning officers and election staff, Ramkerrysingh said the EBC typically does not accept party activists’ returning officers.

He said a returning officer is removed if the EBC discovers they are an activist and that disclosing party allegiance and membership would only apply to the 41 returning officers and only to some 16,000 people who work for elections.

Later, Ramkerrysingh told the Trinidad Express newspaper that the EBC did not anticipate objections from political parties to the move to require returning officers to declare their party affiliation.

He said the decision was taken because the EBC has received complaints about returning officers, and this approach might help deal with such concerns.

He acknowledged that the EBC did not raise this with any political party; it took this action itself in response to the previous accusations.

Political scientist Dr. Bishnu Ragoonath, who was among the presenters at the workshop, said he is not “uncomfortable with what I am hearing based on what you have seen in other jurisdictions.

“For instance, I have used the example of Guyana. There are concerns about what happened in Venezuela…but I am not overly perturbed by the fact that this is being asked now.

“There are two things. You are being asked to declare your party membership, which does not necessarily mean that you are not going to be employed or engaged,” Ragoonath told a local radio station.

Trinidad and Tobago vote in a general election constitutionally due in August next year.