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RURAL Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi was unfazed by legal attempts by the Opposition UNC to overturn election results in the Lengua/Indian Walk and Arima Northeast districts.
Al-Rawi was adamant that local government reform will be rolled out, regardless of whether the UNC supports it or not.
Speaking with the media after the opening of the San Fernando Parkade on Tuesday, Al-Rawi referred to legal action taken by the UNC with respect to Lengua/Indian Walk and its threat of similar action concerning Arima Northeast.
"The UNC is no stranger to election petitions nor am I."
Al-Rawi recalled that he was the subject of an election petition in the 2020 general election "which the UNC lost."
He said, "Every action that they have taken on election petitions has never met with success."
Al-Rawi wished the UNC luck in continuing "in the trajectory of lack of success."
He added the court will rule on any such petitions.
"I am not concerned about their (UNC) actions. This is a democracy. The law says what your options are and you are freely entitled to expand on them as you see fit."
In the case of Lengua/Indian Walk, should the court rule a by-election is needed to resolve that matter, Al-Rawi, who is PNM PRO, said the party is prepared for that.
"We have contested every election. Every time. In every seat and we will continue to do so."
Al-Rawi said, "If and when an election is called, we will be ready as we always are."
He reminded the media that the PNM's local government election campaign was about local government reform and that reform will happen.
"Our position is that local government reform is necessary. The Opposition is adamant that they do not want reform."
On moving forward with reform, Al-Rawi said, "The Cabinet has some decisions to make. The Prime Minister has lead on this issue."
With the exception of one local government corporation (Princes Town Regional Corporation, where Lengua/Indian Walk falls) , Al-Rawi said councillors and aldermen for all the other corporations either have been sworn in or soon will be.
Aldermen are scheduled to be sworn in at the San Fernando City, Penal/Debe Regional and Siparia Borough Corporations on Wednesday.
Al-Rawi reiterated his advice to NUGFW president James Lambert to complain to UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar about issues faced by workers represented by the union, since Persad-Bissessar does not want local goverrnment reform.
On August 21, the UNC initiated legal action against the EBC after two recounts failed to break an electoral tie in the Lengua/Indian Walk district.
Preliminary results in the elections showed the PNM candidate the Rev Autly Granthume winning the district 1,430 to 1,425 over his UNC rival Nicole Gopaul. This would have given the PNM a presence on the PTRC it has not had since 1996-1999, when Godfrey Lee Sing was councillor for Moruga.
On August 15, the UNC requested a recount of the votes in the district.
On August 16, the recount resulted in the PNM and UNC being tied with 1,428 votes each.
In a statement, the EBC said a second recount would be done on August 17.
Should repeated recounts fail to resolve an electoral tie, the deadlock can be broken through the application of Election Rule 101 (15) of the Representation of the People Act, which says where the recount results in a tie, the election is to be declared void and a new election held as soon as possible.
The second recount continued on August 18.
In a statement on August 18, the EBC said the second recount ended in a tie. As a result, the commission's returning officer for Lengua/Indian Walk has declared the election result in the district void.
The commission said once this is certified by chief election officer Fern Narcis-Scope, a fresh election can take place.
However, the UNC has insisted the situation could be resolved by accepting one vote deemed invalid by the EBC because it had not been initialled by an EBC official. The ballot also lacks a polling station number.
Princes Town MP Barry Padarath said once the rejected vote is validated, it resolve the tie in the UNC's avour.
No date has been set for the hearing of this matter yet.
On August 24, the EBC said the PNM won the Arima Northeast district which falls under the Arima Borough Corporation.
In the August 14 local government elections, the PNM and UNC each received 623 votes in the district.
On August 15, the UNC requested a recount.
That recount gave the UNC 624 votes to the PNM's 623.
The EBC accepted a request from the PNM for a check of that recount.
A statement issued by the EBC on August 24 said the PNM's candidate Kim Magdalene Garcia received two additional votes in a second recount of votes in the district.
"This result overturns the outcome of the recount, which was conducted during the period August 16-17, 2023 and saw the UNC candidate Jairzinho Domingo Gustav Rigsby being declared the winner."
The results of this check gave the PNM 625 votes while the UNC got 624.
Garcia was sworn with other PNM councillors on August 25.
On Tuesday, the UNC hinted it could take legal action with respect to the check which saw the PNM win Arima Northeast.
The post Al-Rawi unfazed by UNC election challenges appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.