Election challenge being heard in the court

Hearings are underway in the High Court on an injunction filed to call off Wednesday’s general election and action brought against President Dame Sandra Mason and Attorney General Dale Marshall.

Philip Catlyn of the Barbados Sovereignty Party claims that the exclusion of more than 5 000 COVID-19 positive citizens from the election breaches Section 6 of the Representation of the People Act, which enshrines the right of eligible residents and citizens to vote.

“It’s about the rights of the people of Barbados. I feel that as a citizen I have a right to be informed not only informed but to be asked a question, what is my interest? The people that serve me are elected people that we gave our proxy to to do our bidding and we have now got a republic that we had no input into, we have a president that we had no input into, we have an election that was sprung upon us after going through COVID for two years…worse we are told you have 22 days to do this,” Catlyn contended.

Human rights attorney Lalu Hanuman who is representing Catlyn, insists the right to vote is a fundamental human right and therefore the case has merit.

“I personally have no ulterior motives of any sort, other than upholding human rights. The right to vote is a fundamental right. It is enshrined in international convention…. We have been struggling since the days of slavery, this is why we transition to a republic and one of the most fundamental parts of the process is being able to have a government of your choice and the only way you can have a government of your choice is to have the right to vote. I have no issues with Prime Minister Mia Mottley.”

Mottley has made clear that the matter was not in the purview of the Prime Minister and rests squarely with the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.