Port-of-Spain (CMC):
The main opposition United National Congress (UNC) says it is moving to get the courts to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the results of the 2015 general elections.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar, addressing the 30th anniversary celebrations of the party on Sunday, said that the hearing is scheduled for June 5.
The UNC, the biggest partner in the then coalition People’s Partnership government that had governed the country from 2010-2015, had filed petitions challenging the unilateral decision of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to extend the voting period by one hour in Trinidad only due to the inclement weather on polling day.
It was challenging the results in six of the constituencies.
The People’s National Movement won 23 of the 41 seats that were at stake, while the coalition, which had won 29 seats in 2010, was only able to win 18 in the election.
GEORGE TOWN (CMC):
Premier Alden McLaughlin has urged politicians in the United Kingdom (UK) to refrain from “driving a wedge” between the people in the overseas territories by intervening in affairs that are the responsibility of the elected governments .
McLaughlin made the statement last week in Monaco, where he meet with UK officials and members of the yachting community in the south of France.
The premier updated the British lawmakers about the economic progress but also said that there is a “worrying trend” and “alarming approach” taken by the Foreign Affairs Committee in its recent report.
“My message also included a note of warning of the consequences of a UK Parliament, 4,500 miles from the Cayman Islands, interfering in local matters that are not only devolved but in circumstances where they have no real understanding of local people and local affairs,” he said in a press release.
NASSAU (CMC):
The Bahamas' two main opposition parties yesterday called on the government to give an assurance that the murder of a former United Nations peacekeeper on the compound of the residence of Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling is not “an attack on the state”.
Police are continuing their investigations into the murder of 52-year-old Royal Bahamas Defence Force marine, Petty Officer Philip Perpall, who was shot while at the guard room at Government House early on Sunday.
“All I can say is there is a person of interest that we are talking to and hopefully from talking to this person we are able to bring some resolve to this investigation,” said Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ferguson.
For its part, the minority opposition, Democratic National Alliance, said that the official residence of the governor general “should enjoy the highest level of security in the land.
GEORGETOWN (CMC):
The United States yesterday condemned the resolution approved by Guyana's National Assembly that paid tribute to former legislator, Abdul Kadir, who died in a United States prison after he was convicted on terrorism-related charges there.
In a statement, the US Embassy said that the Guyanese legislators had chosen “to honour a man who conspired to kill innocent people from across the United States and around the world.
“This resolution is an insensitive and thoughtless act, which demonstrates the National Assembly’s disregard for the gravity of Kadir’s actions,” Washington said.
Kadir, a chemical engineer who had been arrested in Trinidad, died in a US prison on June 28, last year. He was convicted and sentenced in the United States in 2010 along with three other elderly men for plotting to blow up gas pipelines at the JFK Airport.
Throughout his trial and even after being convicted, he maintained his innocence and repeatedly said he was wrongly accused and wrongfully convicted. The US Government had used the services of a drug convict informant as its key witness during the trial.