Democracy under Attack
Tyrell House,
H.A. Blaize Street,
St. George’s, Grenada.
Phone: 473 409 1621
E-Mail: ndclive@gmail.com
Thursday, 15 May 2014
His Excellency José Miguel Insulza Salinas
Secretary
General
Organization of American States (OAS)
17th Street and Constitution Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20006-4499
United States of America
VIA REGULAR MAIL AND E-MAIL
TO:jinsulza@oas.org
Your Excellency:
Re: State
Sponsored Attack on Democracy and Democratic Institutions in Grenada
I write to you
in my capacity as Political Leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC),
the main opposition party in Grenada (which secured 41 percent of the popular
vote in the last general elections), to bring to your attention some recent developments
taking place in our country that threaten the very heart of our democratic
system and to solicit your assistance in ensuring that our democracy and
democratic institutions are protected and preserved.
Since
being elected in February 2013, the New National Party (NNP) Government of
Grenada, led by Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, has embarked on a course of
conduct that has many citizens deeply troubled. Several actions and utterances
by the Government and by persons closely connected with Government demonstrate
that democracy and democratic institutions in Grenada are under serious threat,
indeed under attack.
These
attacks on the Grenada Constitution, laws, protocols and customs do not accord
with the governance and accountability agenda advocated by the NNP while in
opposition and during the election campaign.
Your
Excellency, your organization has always been a friend of Grenada. Over the
years, you have contributed significantly, not only to Grenada’s economic and
social development but substantially to the advancement and maintenance of our
democracy and democratic institutions. For this reason, we consider it
imperative that we bring to your attention some of the matters of concern to
the NDC and indeed the wider populace.
Among
the matters of concern, which the NDC regards as attacks on and threats to
democracy in Grenada are the following:
I.
The calculated interference by the
Cabinet of Ministers with the operations of the Office of the Supervisor of
Elections, notwithstanding the constitutional protection afforded that office
by section 35 of the Grenada Constitution and the provisions of the Representation
of the People Act (hereafter “the Act”), thereby compromising or
potentially compromising the independence and integrity of the electoral system
and process in Grenada;
II.
The appointment of Hon. Gregory Bowen[1]
a Civil Engineer by profession, with absolutely
no legal training or expertise,
to act as Attorney General of Grenada on
two separate occasions in flagrant violation of section 70 of the Constitution
of Grenada;
III.
The passage and then repeal (under
regional and international pressure) of sections 6, 16, and 25 of an Electronic
Crimes Act, which re-enacted the anachronistic offence of criminal libel
and infringed the Constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of conscience
and of expression;
IV.
The passage in the House of
Representatives of an amendment to the Interception of Communications Act so as to empower the
state to intercept private communication where it has reason to believe that
such interception may be necessary “for the purpose of safeguarding the
economic well-being of the state”, without defining what the “economic
well-being of the state” means or involves (this proposed amendment was finally
defeated in the Senate); and
V.
The amendment of the Terrorism Act
so as to empower the Attorney General of Grenada, a public officer answerable
to the Cabinet of Ministers to designate any person in Grenada a “terrorist”
and any organization in Grenada a “terrorist organization”, without reference
to internationally established and accepted criteria for so doing, thereby
exposing political opponents of the regime to the threats of political
intimidation and victimization.
The
Authorities in Grenada have chosen this course of action notwithstanding the
Oaths of Office taken upon occupying
their respective offices, in accordance with Schedule 3 to the Constitution, to
the effect that “in the execution of the functions of such office [they] will honour,
uphold and preserve the Constitution of Grenada. So help me God”.
The
NDC considers that these attacks will, if ignored, ultimately lead to a
breakdown of peace, order and good governance in Grenada and feels compelled to
bring same to the attention of the international community with a view to
securing their timely intervention, as
they deem fitting and appropriate
in the circumstances.
In
this letter, I address in particular, the calculated interference by the
Cabinet of Ministers with the operations of the Office of the Supervisor of
Elections and advise as follows:
Interference
with the Electoral Office
1. Section
35 (1) of the Constitution of Grenada
provides that there shall be a Supervisor of Elections whose duty will be to
supervise over the registration of voters and the conduct of general elections
in Grenada. Section 35 (2) of the Constitution provides for the Governor
General, acting in his “own deliberate
judgment”, to appoint the
Supervisor of Elections.
2. Section
35(6) of the Constitution provides that in the exercise of his functions, the
Supervisor of Elections shall not be subject to the direction or control of any
other person or authority. Section 35(5)
of the Constitution gives the Supervisor an absolute discretion to report to
the House of Representatives whenever he considers it necessary or expedient.
3. Sections
28 & 29 and sections 30 & 31 of the Representation of the People Act
collectively provide for the Governor General, acting in his own deliberate
judgment, and the Supervisor of Elections, respectively, to appoint all
administrative and support staff to the Parliamentary Elections Office and its
sub-offices throughout Grenada.
4. The
existing Constitutional and legislative framework therefore contemplates that
the Supervisor of Elections and his office must remain absolutely independent
and insulated from the control or influence of the different arms of
Government, especially the Executive.
5. As
you would be aware, in 2011, Grenada finally responded to the recommendations
of the Organization of American States, made in 1999, 2003 and again in 2008 to
introduce an improved Voter Registration System. The Office of the Supervisor
of Elections, with the full backing of the NDC led Government, made a
substantial investment in both financial and human terms to introduce a new
System ahead of the General Elections scheduled for 2013.
6. The
reforms introduced by the Supervisor included the introduction of biometric
identification cards and an electronic voter database so as to improve voter
security. To give legal effect to these initiatives, the Parliament of Grenada
in 2011, amended the Representation of the Peoples Act, so as to provide
for the establishment of a permanent, centralized and computerized Voter
Registration System and establishment a more stringent identification
requirement. In addition, the legislative amendments provided for checks and
balances in terms of voters list data, guaranteeing parties and citizens
sufficient oversight over the registration process.
7. By
letter dated January 8th 2013, the Honourable Tillman Thomas, then
Prime Minister of Grenada wrote to the Secretary General of the OAS to request
“urgent assistance of the OAS in providing technical support to evaluate and
verify the integrity of the new voter registration system.” The said letter requested the independent
evaluation and verification of the new system by an international body to
ensure that the upcoming elections, to be held in February 2013 were conducted
in a clean, free, fair and transparent manner.”
8. This
request for assistance was promptly and generously answered by your Excellency
and an OAS Technical Team commenced work in Grenada on January 21st
2013. On February 7th 2013, the OAS issued its Report on the
Assessment and Evaluation of the New Voters’ Registration System in Grenada. In
the said report, the OAS concluded, inter alia, that:
a. Its
verification of the electoral database indicated strong levels of accuracy and
reliability;
b. The
house to house survey on voter registration attested to the integrity of the
voter registration database;
c. Grenada
had significantly improved the legal framework governing the voter registration
process;
d. The
voter registration system in Grenada is generally robust; and
e. Grenadian
authorities deserve recognition for implementing a new system, which
constitutes real progress for the organization of clean and inclusive elections
in the country[2].
9. General
elections were held on February 19th 2013, with independent
observers, including an OAS observer mission in attendance. The independent
observers, particularly the OAS observer team, commended the Supervisor of
Elections and her staff for their professional and efficient execution of the
February 19th 2013 General Elections[3].
10. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, by letter dated August 28th
2013, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry responsible for inter alia Communications and
Information Communication Technology (ICT), wrote the Supervisor of Elections
informing her that the Cabinet had, at its meeting of July 28th
2013, “approved several Parliamentary Elections Offices for the registration of
those offices into the MPID System” ( a new and different voter registration
and card issuance system of which the Supervisor had no knowledge).
11. The
said letter from the Permanent Secretary further advised the Supervisor of
Elections that Cabinet also “directed that the staff of the Electoral
Office work with the MPID System for registration and issuance of Voter
Registration Cards”. The Permanent Secretary advised further, that
Cabinet had “authorised the installation of internet services on all sites” and
that the Ministry had already “instructed LIME, the internet service
provider, to undertake the installation as a matter of urgency”[4].
12. By
Memorandum dated August 30th 2013, the Supervisor of Elections
responded to the Permanent Secretary pointing out her concerns that the
proposed system changes to the Parliamentary Elections offices may be premature
and may constitute a breach of the existing legislation. The Supervisor of
Elections was careful to point out that her reservations were not a matter of
resistance but a commitment to the independence of the institution and
adherence to the legislative framework[5].
13. The
IT changes “approved” by the Cabinet will effectively place the Electoral Office
and its sub-offices on a shared network with other Government Ministries,
Departments and Offices. The server for this shared network is housed at the
Prime Minister’ Ministry.
14. The
Supervisor of Elections received no response to her memorandum.
15. By
latter dated September 30 2013, the Governor General summarily dismissed the
Supervisor of Elections, effective October 1st 2013[6].
16. The
Supervisor of Elections has since commenced legal action against the Governor
General of Grenada seeking judicial review of the decision of the Governor
General to dismiss her in the manner she was dismissed and a Declaration that
the said dismissal was in all the circumstances unreasonable, irrational,
procedurally improper and in breach of the principles of natural justice. In
the said action, the Supervisor of Election also seeks Declarations that the
decisions and actions of the Cabinet of Ministers in relation to this matter
were ultra
vires the Constitution of Grenada. A copy of the Notice of Application
filed along with the Affidavit of the Supervisor of Elections, Judy Benoit,
sworn to on November 13, 2013 and filed in support of her Application is
attached hereto[7].
17. On
September 30th, 2013, the same day on which the Supervisor of
Elections was dismissed, Mr. Aaron Francois was appointed to act as Supervisor
of Elections. It should be pointed out here that by virtue of Section 35 of the
Constitution of Grenada (already referred to) there must be a public officer
holding the Office of Supervisor of Elections or Acting Supervisor of Elections
at all times and the said office ought not to be left vacant at any time.
18. Sometime
during the month of March 2014, Mr. Francois learnt that Mr. Rupert Mc Burnie,
the IT Systems Administrator in the Electoral Office will be removed from the
office and reassigned ( I am not in a position to confirm the exact nature
or circumstances of that communication).Mr. Francois was not consulted
in that regard and had no input in the decision to reassign Mr. Mc Burnie.
19. Mr.
Mc Burnie is the person most familiar with and qualified to operate the new
Voter Identification Management System (VIMS),
referenced at paragraph 3.1.2.1 of the OAS Report of the Assessment of the New
Voter Registration System in Grenada. He was trained in Canada in the operation
and use of the system by the Systems provider and designer of the operational
software.
20. We
are reliably informed that the then
Acting Supervisor of Elections questioned the decision to remove Mr. Mc
Burnie from the position, vigorously
advancing the view that it would impair the operations of the office if Mr. Mc
Burnie were removed from the office at that time. Notwithstanding, his pleas in
that regard were ignored.
21. On
April 1st 2014, Mr. Mc Burnie, was removed as IT Systems Administrator from the
Office of the Supervisor of Elections. On the same day, Mr Francois tendered
his resignation from the post of Acting Supervisor of Elections “for personal
and professional reasons".
22. On
that same day, ( April 1st) Mr. Mc Burnie was replaced by a Mr. Paul
Michael Millett, who is not known to have any knowledge of, prior working
experience with or expertise in relation to the Voter Registration System
presently in operation and use at the Office of the Supervisor of Elections.
23. Notwithstanding
the Constitutional requirement that there shall be a Supervisor of Elections
(and as such, the Office cannot be left vacant), no Supervisor of Elections or
Acting Supervisor of Elections has been appointed since Mr. Francois’
resignation. There has therefore been no one at the Electoral Office to whom
the staff is institutionally answerable since April 1st 2014.
24. At
this juncture, it is also not known to the Grenadian public and relevant
stakeholders whether the Electoral Office has since been placed on the EGRIP
(shared network) system in accordance with the stated commitment of the Cabinet
of Ministers as conveyed in the letter of the Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry responsible for ICT as set out in paragraphs 10 and 11 above.
25. It is also not known whether the installation
of internet services in the parliamentary elections offices directed by the
Cabinet of Ministers have in fact taken place. Should this have occurred, this
would, in principle, provide to the Prime Minister’s Ministry access to the
database of the Office of the Supervisor of Elections and give to the ruling
party and its candidates a distinct advantage in any future general elections.
- It
is not known what Mr. Millet is in fact doing at the Office and to whom he
is reporting.
- Notwithstanding
the constitutional duty of the Governor General to appoint a Supervisor of
Elections, she has failed or refused to do so and public calls for an
appointment to be made have been flatly ignored. As a consequence, the
Office has remained vacant since April 1st 2014.
The matters detailed above form the
basis of a real and genuine concern that the integrity of the electoral system
in Grenada is being, and will continue to be compromised unless the Authorities
in Grenada are persuaded, as a matter of urgency, to depart from their current
trajectory.
Given that the independence and
integrity of the electoral system and process constitute the heart and soul of
our democratic system, the NDC submits that this unlawful, calculated and
unwarranted interference with that Office creates the real likelihood that any
subsequent elections may well be a farce.
On behalf of the people of
Grenada- in particular, the Grenadian
electorate, opposition political parties, prospective political candidates and
other stakeholders- we kindly request that you use your good offices to
intervene in this situation so that the democracy and democratic system that we
cherish could be protected and preserved.
Please be assured, Your Excellency,
of our highest and most esteemed consideration.
Yours respectfully,
V. Nazim Burke
Political Leader
National Democratic Congress
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