Legal action over the election results
Trini News
December 12, 2000
The People's National Movement (PNM) has initiated legal action over the election results.
The party placed legal notices in today's newspapers, indicating its intention to petition the courts over the results. That is essentially the first step in legal action in the matter.
The PNM leader Patrick Manning appealed to President Arthur NR Robinson to hold his hand on the appointment of the new United National Congress (UNC) Government.
Manning wrote the President, telling him the PNM was challenging in court the election of Winston "Gypsy" Peters and William Chaitan who made false declarations in their nomination forms. The two UNC candidates won the Ortoire/Mayaro and Pointe-a-Pierre seats, respectively, in Monday's general election. The UNC won 19 seats, the PNM, 16, and the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), one.
A spokesman from the Office of the President confirmed Robinson had received Manning's letter at 2.15 pm yesterday.
The spokesman also said the President was awaiting the certified results of Monday's election from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
Yesterday, the EBC said it was awaiting recounts in Tobago East, which was won by the NAR, and Tunapuna and San Fernando West, which were won by the United National Congress (UNC). An EBC source said the certified results might be forthcoming by the end of the week.
The PNM team handling the issue, Danny Montano, told reporters the petition would be "asking the court to ultimately declare the nominations of Mr Chaitan and Mr Peters were invalid and the subsequent poll is of no effect." He said the petition is also asking that the court rule the "only valid contestants in the two constituencies would have been the nominees of the PNM."
SIXTY-SEVEN thousand more people voted in Monday's general election than in 1995.Figures released yesterday by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) showed that, five years ago, the total number of votes cast was 530,311 and on Monday the number stood at 597,014 - a difference of 66,703.....
PNM’s letter to President Arthur NR Robinson: Dec 13, 2000
President can await court ruling Dec 13, 2000
Back to stealing elections
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