Someone must be held accountable for the error in the setting of dates for today’s Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election, Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah said yesterday.
“For the very first time in the history of THA elections, there was a major error in the setting of the dates for the nomination and election days,” he said in a statement.
“The issue of accountability arises—someone or some bodies made the error yet nobody has owned up for it.”
Abdulah noted that the two Houses of Parliament had to sit in emergency session to pass legislation to validate today’s election.
He said: “A respected attorney-at-law, Independent Senator Sophia Chote SC, is reported to have said in the Senate debate that even Parliament’s decision may be insufficient to stop a legal challenge to the THA election.
“If so, thousands of dollars, perhaps even millions, will be spent on legal fees, considerable judicial time will be allocated to hearing the challenge and much uncertainty will prevail over the legality of those elected to the Assembly. In such a scenario will anybody be held to account?”
The MSJ leader said several institutions were involved in the matter, including THA’s Chief Secretary, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister.
“Is it that the holders of high public office don’t have sound professional and technical support in the form of legal and administrative advice that would ensure that such a simple error—but one which has far reaching consequences—was not made?” he asked.
“There must be accountability by those who hold positions of responsibility . . . the apparently simple mistake in counting days is a symptom of a much deeper problem.”