KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (CMC):
THREE CANDIDATES of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) that contested the December 7 general elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are claiming victory.
They said 'irregularities' in the conduct of the elections deprived them of the right to represent their constituents at the national level.
The preliminary results of the elections announced last week Wednesday night showed that the NDP lost the West Kingstown, North Leeward and Central Kingstown seats by 35, 29 and 14 votes respectively. A recount did not alter the results.
The candidates, Daniel Cummings, Roland Patel Matthews and Major St. Clair Leacock, will take to the political platform on Wednesday night to outline their cases to supporters.
BALLOTS, STUBS DON'T MATCH
Patel Matthews, the NDP's candidate for North Leeward said the ballots and counter foils (stubs) cast at the Chateaubelair Methodist School on St. Vincent's north western coast did not correspond.
He also said a ballot box from a polling station in that same town was not signed, sealed or locked before it was delivered to the counting station, as the law requires.
The former teacher said in the adjacent community of Petit Bordel, two persons bearing identification cards with the same name and number were allowed to vote and 12 persons could not find their names on the voters' list although they had lived and voted in North Leeward all their lives.
He said these persons were transferred without their consent or knowledge, contrary to what the law stipulates.
Additionally, Matthews said some nine packets of ballots that were intended for North Leeward were delivered to the Southern Grenadines, some 40 nautical miles from Kingstown, which is located on the south western end of the island, the opposite extreme to North Leeward.
Matthews said he was not concerned about the margin of victory but about the fairness of the poll.
"I am truly convinced in my heart that the majority of people in North Leeward voted for Patel Matthews," he said.
According to the official elections results, Dr. Jerrol Thompson, the Minister of Telecommunication, Science and Industry, retained the North Leeward seat, defeating Matthews for the second consecutive time.
Matthews however said that the official results did not matter to him.
"We the people of North Leeward are not convinced that this election in North Leeward was free and fair. And we are going to do what is necessary to remind Mr. Thompson that he is the not the duly elected representative of North Leeward," he said.
The NDP's candidate for Central Kingstown Major St. Clair Leacock said he was not only concerned about the extent to which the elections were "free and fair" but also "free from fear"
Leacock, a Senator in the previous parliament, claimed that "substantive" acts of bribery had taken place in that urban constituency and proceeded to identify by name an individual who, he said, was involved.
He noted that the number of votes the NDP received in that constituency increased by 20 percent over the 2001 figure and concluded that there was a movement away from the Unity Labour Party (ULP) towards the NDP there.
He said that in Central Kingstown over 120 counter foils were unaccounted for, no tally sheets were presented to some presiding officers and remaining, unused ballots were signed, sealed and stamped by the presiding officer, thereby making it possible for anyone to cast a legitimate vote on these ballots.
The NDP's candidate for West Kingstown, Daniel Cummings, criticised the Supervisor of Elections, Rodney Adams.
Daniel, who said that before the elections he had sought legal interpretation of the legislations governing the conduct of the poll, said the law was breached when the names of the candidates were not listed in alphabetical order as the Representation of the People's Act dictates.
He said on Election Day he spoke to Adams about a number of concerns and the electoral official "listened and said nothing".
"Today in our country, the chickens have come home to roost. This election just ended has been sabotaged and deliberately hijacked," Daniel said.
NDP leader Arnhim Eustace echoed Cummings' sentiments and said that the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) left the country too soon because it was only at the final count that some of the irregularities came to the fore.
However, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves have dismissed the concerned insisting that "the opposition has lost these elections fair and square".
He said the opposition should seek to have its grievances address in the law courts and said he was "satisfied, too, that any Court challenge in any of the seats will fail".
CMC kc/pr/05
