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MEMBERS of the Public Services Association (PSA) will go to the polls on Monday.
On Friday the lawsuit which led to the election being postponed from last month was withdrawn, paving the way for the election to be held.
But Curtis Cuffie, leader of Concerned Public Officers, one of the slates contesting the election, said the matter was “still very troubling,” since the voters’ list, which the court had deemed not satisfactory, was “still bad.”
At a virtual hearing last month, the list presented to Justice Nadia Kangaloo was said to be still not satisfactory. The PSA’s election committee had been given another week to publish a satisfactory final list before they return to court. The judge also warned, the court would get involved if the irregularities identified were not corrected.
However, since the lawsuit was withdrawn, the court cannot now get involved.
Cuffie said no proper polling stations were identified, the December 14 date for the election was not ratified by the PSA’s general council, and the list was still unacceptable.
“This is totally wrong. Nothing is ready or in place. It is very troubling and unfortunate that the PSA has found itself in this mess again because of one man and his continuous grab for power.”
Cuffie said PSA members were being disenfranchised unlawfully. He intends to meet with his team this weekend to try to prepare for Monday’s polls.
Incumbent president, Watson Duke, who leads Team GameChangers, told Newsday his slate was excited for Monday.
"Our members are relieved and are hopeful that I will remain as president to guide them through the dismal years ahead."
Asked about the complaints of the other teams, Duke said, "They are sour losers who became defeated the moment they saw the caliber of public officers representing GameChangers."
The elections were originally set for November 23, but then postponed after the parties appeared before the judge on November 16.
A new date was tentatively set for December 14, once issues with a new voters’ list were rectified. At the last hearing, the judge heard from the new elections committee, which gave the court the new final voters’ list.
However, she pointed out that the new list was not in conformity with a previous order she gave in February 2018.
Before her was a lawsuit filed in 2017 by then PSA contender Solomon Gabriel and his Team Fixers, who challenged the elections and obtained an injunction in November 2017, which stopped the executive elections that year.
Gabriel’s team argued that the list of voters was fundamentally flawed because the union’s general council had decided to allow PSA members whose union dues were in arrears to vote if they cleared their arrears. At the time the initial lawsuit was filed, almost 300 of the 14,000 members reportedly took advantage of the move.
In February 2018, Kangaloo ordered the committee to “sanitise” the list and set a new date for elections after she found multiple irregularities.
The new list presented was also said to be flawed, with numerous duplications.
Two senior members of the PSA’s executive, Ian Murray and Shalene Suchit-Dwarika, who are the vice president and the general secretary, were suspended earlier this month.
Last year, Team Fixers brought contempt proceedings against the PSA executive, claiming the committee breached Kangaloo’s order by deciding to scrap the original list and by calling elections on November 23.
Gabriel and his team are not contesting the upcoming elections.
The group was represented by Lemuel Murphy and Stacey Mc Sween. John Heath and Lionel Luckhoo were representing the PSA.
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