PNM political leader contender Karen Nunez-Tesheira has been unsuccessful in her attempt to stall the party’s internal election until her lawsuit over the changes to the electoral process is determined.
On Wednesday, Justice Devindra Rampersad dismissed an injunction application by Nunez-Tesheira and two members of her slate.
He said he was not minded to grant the interim relief sought, as the greater risk of prejudice in doing so lay with the party.
Rampersad also held the application was devoid of evidence, saying an election should not be stopped or altered on the basis “only on fears without cogent evidence.”
The judge added, “Whereas the defendant has indicated facts which the court has to consider and to take into account, the claimants have not.
“Of course, the upshot of any unfair election could be that officers are elected for four years, thereby depriving the unsuccessful candidates of the chance to have so been elected. During that next four-year period, the court can also take judicial notice of the fact that there would be national general elections so that the impact of the appointment of persons to any of these relevant offices would have an even greater lasting effect.”
Rampersad said there was no actual evidence of the potential for an unfair election.
In their breach of contract lawsuit, Nunez-Tesheira, Dr Kenneth Butcher, who is vying for the post of chairman, and Bishop Victor Phillip, who is contesting the post of election officer, claim the party's central executive breached the party's constitution by deciding the election should be contested on three separate days over a nine-day period – November 26, 27, and December 4 – instead of on one day. Their lawsuit said the party’s central executive does not have the power to make this decision.
They also raised concerns about the security of the ballot boxes.
The PNM’s election committee chairman Anthony Roberts, in his evidence, said the ballot boxes on the days of the election would be secured and transported by the police to a “secure secret location” and an independent accounting firm, Pannell Kerr Forster, will secure the boxes.
The judge said, “Should these things be shown to be otherwise later on when there has been comprehensive disclosure and discovery, then the claimants may have other recourse should the process be found, in fact, to be tainted. Even though it is a more onerous task to correct an election after the fact, evidence of actual illegality and unfairness would be grounds to set it aside.”
Rampersad also agreed with the PNM’s complaint, advanced by its lead attorney Russell Martineau, SC, of a delay in filing the injunction application until mere days before the party’s membership goes to the polls, particularly when the announcement by the party’s central executive, which was ratified by the general council, was made on August 10.
However, Rampersad held he was not able, at this stage, to come to a definitive finding on how to interpret article 18.1 of the PNM’s constitution.
“The case, therefore,
