By Robert A. Emmanuel
An investigation into what the Prime Minister and the Cabinet consider an “unusually high” number of persons transferring into the St Peter constituency ahead of January’s general election will be undertaken.
That was the statement of Prime Minister Gaston Browne during a radio programme on Saturday.
He claimed that the electoral system in St Peter was “compromised” to the point where “a Labour Party scrutineer had to be moved” to a different constituency.
In September 2022, the Cabinet made a similar sentiment in its weekly minutes, claiming scrutineers had informed them that “an unusually high number of electors have been transferring their registration into…St Peter’s”.
However, whether or not Cabinet would pursue an investigation was not made clear at the time.
More than six months later, the Prime Minister has raised the issue again, claiming that there was three times the expected percentage of transfers and claimed, without evidence, that some persons had been bribed. He said former MP Dean Jonas had asked for an investigation into the matter.
“The system was compromised, and we did not have a vigilant scrutineer… When you look at the increase in total voter registration, the average registration increase in constituency size would have been 19 percent; in the case of St Peter, it was 52 percent,” the Prime Minister said.
Browne’s comments come after he announced publicly that he had transferred persons out of his own constituency to help his fellow political candidates.
St Peter MP Asot Michael was approached by Observer for comment which he said would be forthcoming later this week.