And now onto political news… On Friday we told you that Prime Minister is calling for Steve Perera's resignation as chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission. Today Perera responded to those comments but was still non-committal on whether he will stay or go.
But, a four page statement makes it clear that he's under no compulsion to go!
Instead, he fired off a statement answering questions about the position as chairman of the E&B. He ended the four paged document urging the PM and the UDP to read the relevant section of the law and that makes it clear that his appointment is apolitical, suggesting very clearly that he has no obligation to resign.
And while Perera has not given a concrete answer, PM Briceno's comments in the House of Representatives were solid - he's appointed by the UDP and the moral choice is for him to step down.
Hon John Briceno, Prime Minister
"When it comes to Steve Perera, Steve Perera is my friend. But everybody know that Steve Perera is a UDP. And I told him, Steve, me and you dah friend but you dah UDP, and that's fine, that's your decision. When the former Prime Minister appointed Steve Perera two or three months before general elections, he knew that an election as going to come, he didn't appoint Steve Perera for three months, or six months, he appointed Steve Perera for five years. And now, when you appoint the elections and boundaries commission, check this out, you appoint two members from the opposition, we appoint two, and then you have Steve Perara so you control the Elections and Boundaries Commission. You think we stupid?"
"I am saying publicly right now, Steve Perera needs to do the decent and honest thing and he needs to resign from the Elections and Boundaries Commission. The practice has always been that they resign, it has always been the practice that they resign, and Steve Perera must resign from the Elections and Boundaries Commission."
We reached out to Perera, who declined an interview at this time, but did say that the document is solely for the purpose of educating the public and not an indication of his decision.
