By Sue-Ann Wayow
ANOTHER candidate contesting the local government election is claiming to need permission from his employer to contest.
The candidate is a member of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) headed by Phillip Alexander.
Alexander said on Monday that the candidate got a call from his superior who said he in turn received a call from a higher authority informing him that the candidate would need permission to participate in the election.
“We informed the candidate that like with our other member, we would stand by him to the very end and have already referred the matter to our attorneys,” he said.
He did not reveal the name of the candidate.
United National Congress (UNC) candidate for Malabar North LyndonDe Gannes, a Central Bank employee, received a letter from his employer reminding him of its code of conduct and common terms of conditions of employment which prevents employees from running for political office. He has since taken the matter to court.
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Alexander mentioned that one of PEP’s Deputy Political leaders has been before a tribunal since 2020 with no end in sight, a matter the party intends to take to the highest authorities including the Privy Council.
He said, “As political leader of a political movement that commands a large organic following of persons who want more civilization and democracy for this hamstrung society, it falls to me to call on all the people of this country to help us achieve political power, so we can break for good those impediments to their natural and entitled freedoms.”
The laws in place that bar public servants from contesting elections and those that require others in state employ to seek permission to engage in the process of this democracy needed to be rubbished, Alexander said.
He said, “Because they have never been challenged constitutionally does not mean they are correct, lawful or even legal. The courts have the power to order them repealed and we intend to take them before the courts as far as is required to achieve justice.”
Alexander added, “We in the Progressive Empowerment Party continue to stress that none of us can truly be free as long as any of us are not free, free to speak, free to assemble politically, and free to participate in the process.”
