PM failed in his attempt to make out a case for house-to-house registration

Dear Editor,

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, is now the latest member of the Government’s orchestra synchronizing to distort and obfuscate the Caribbean Court of Justice’s recent rulings, in their desperate quest to delay elections, avoid the electorate like a plague and continue to squat in Government.

Not being satisfied with his comical and clumsy attempt broadcast on National Television, a few weeks ago, to explain and justify that 33 is not a majority of 65, the Prime Minister was at it again in his weekly column, ‘My Turn’, published last Sunday in the Chronicle Newspaper. In that article, Prime Minister Nagamootoo abysmally failed in his attempt to make out a case for houseto-house registration as a sine qua non for Regional and General Elections, which he so frantically set out to do. Clearly unfamiliar with the relevant statutory provisions that govern Registration and which mandate a cyclical form of continuous registration as opposed to house-tohouse registration, Mr. Nagamootoo deliberately makes no reference to the law but instead premised his arguments on certain statements attributed to Dr. Steve Surujbally, allegedly, made on the eve of the 2015 elections.

Conspicuously, Prime Minister Nagamootoo deliberately omitted to recall that there was no house-tohouse registration immediately preceding the 2011 elections, which the APNU and AFC won the majority in the National Assembly, nor the 2015 General and Regional elections, in which APNU+AFC won Government as a coalition, nor the 2016, nor the 2018 Local Government elections, both of which were held under the Coalition Government.

The nation is unaware of any criticisms, whatsoever, from the Prime Minister, or his Government, regarding the integrity of any of those elections or the lists used in respect thereof. Unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister glaringly neglected to allude to the new and emerging circumstances and factors that precipitated his sudden clamour for houseto-house registration. Unfortunately, for the Prime Minister, to the initiated, the reason is clear: it is nothing but a recent and senseless fabricated charade to delay the elections.

I am of the considered view that the article was intended to make an unethical and unsavoury pitch to the President of the CCJ, whom the Prime Minister knew was in Georgetown, to participate in a judicial colloquium.

The Prime Minister, however, did not end his perversity there. He went on to prophesy that the CCJ “would make orders that are advisory and not coercive”. In my considered view, this is another malevolent attempt at influencing the Court. Thankfully, most law students would know that Court Orders are declaratory, coercive or prohibitory.

In any event, none of the parties in the cases have approached the CCJ for “advice”. Hence, the Court has adjourned the matter to hear the parties via written submissions, in respect of “consequential orders”, not “consequential advice”.

Yours faithfully, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP, Attorney-at-Law