Prime Minister Mia Mottley made clear Friday that she is not involved in the conduct of general elections amid repeated calls for authorities to make provisions for COVID-19 positive patients to cast their ballots on January 19.
She said the matter rests with the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
“A Prime Minister of Barbados has no locus standi in the conduct of General Elections, that is a matter solely for the Electoral & Boundaries Commission.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday at the Lawns in St George, Mottley also acknowledged the possibly of legal action to the polls.
“When I became an attorney-at-law at 21, my father taught me one thing – you argue a case once in court. If they bring it to court, we will argue it,” she declared in response to a question from Barbados TODAY.
A week ago, former Leader of the Opposition and head of the coalition Alliance Party for Progress (APP) Bishop Joseph Atherley called on other opposition parties to join him in seeking a court injunction to halt the election or provide some means by which all COVID-19 positive patients could vote. However, he subsequently put that on hold to focus on supporting the APP’s candidates since none of the other parties had reached out to him up to that time.
Since then, senior counsel Garth Patterson argued that challenges to the timing of the election and the failure to make provisions for COVID-19 infected persons to exercise their franchise, stood a chance of being successful in court.
“The Government’s decision to dissolve Parliament and to hold elections during a pandemic may be amenable to judicial review, provided that the voter can establish that, by doing so, the Government breached its constitutional duty of rational and reasonable decision-making and/or contravened the substance or policy of any applicable law or constitutional provision,” he declared.
“No government can freely ignore the law, and the right to vote is enshrined in the Representation of the People Act, which the Constitution mandates must make provision for every qualified voter to have a reasonable opportunity of voting in a general election. This includes every otherwise qualified COVID-positive voter. To the extent that the existing electoral law fails to make adequate provision for voting other than by in-person voting at a polling station (e.g. voting by mail) during the pandemic, the law itself may also be vulnerable to constitutional challenge,” the senior counsel added.
Patterson argued that in these circumstances, the court has jurisdiction to stop the elections from proceeding.
Health authorities and the Electoral and Boundaries Commission have contended that the current COVID directives make it illegal for patients in isolation facilities or home isolation to leave those places unless by permission of the Chief Medical Officer. (EJ)
