By Gemma Handy
The body tasked with overseeing elections in the country has a new face at the helm.
Attorney Arthur Thomas was sworn in as chairman of the country’s Electoral Commission (ABEC) at Government House yesterday morning.
The former chairman of the Caribbean Union Bank replaces the late John Jarvis who was laid to rest earlier this week.
“My plan at this time is to look at existing processes to see how we continue to build on those,” Thomas told Observer following the ceremony.
“My predecessors including the late Mr John Jarvis would have done excellent work and it is really my intention to buttress what they have established.”
Thomas wouldn’t be drawn on a further question about increasing transparency surrounding election financing.
Last year, Jarvis called on political parties to work together to overhaul legislation relating to elections. The observer missions of the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth and Caricom all called for stronger campaign finance laws in their preliminary reports released in the wake of the January 2023 poll.
Thomas told Observer he was aware of concerns regarding donations and that the matter would need to be examined before a determination on the way forward is made.
Thomas was also one of the directors in the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which collapsed in November 2022 amid a major fraud scandal.
Consequently, his new position leading ABEC has not been without controversy.
The opposition UPP party sent out a strongly worded statement on Thursday night urging Thomas to decline the role in light of his involvement in FTX and “in the interest of preserving the integrity” of ABEC.
Headquartered in the Bahamas and incorporated in Antigua, FTX was once the world’s third-largest crypto exchange. It was previously valued at US$32 billion but saw a stunning fall from grace after it emerged that the company was using depositors’ money to fund other businesses.
Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in the US on a string of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges in November. He will be sentenced next month.
“On account of his association with Sam Bankman-Fried … Thomas has had to resign his positions with the Caribbean Union Bank (CUB) and the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission,” a UPP release stated.
“If his connection to these entities was enough for him to resign, why should he head the body charged with safeguarding the practice of fair elections?”
UPP Political Leader Jamale Pringle claimed while Jarvis had “enjoyed the respect and esteem of a wide cross-section of the society”, the same could not be said of Thomas.
Thomas was asked how he wished to respond to controversy about his new role.
“I have seen and heard some of the criticism,” he told Observer. “I obviously understand opposition forces – or any citizen – have a right to raise questions but there is also an obligation on persons raising questions to ensure the factual basis on which they speak is correct.”
In this case, Thomas said, it is not.
“It is best never to judge someone going into a position; you judge them when they get out of the position.
“I stand by the body of work that I have done since starting my career in Antigua and Barbuda some 33 years ago,” he added.
“My reputation has not been in any way impugned, and certainly if it was I do not believe the government would have reposed the confidence that they did.”
