Thursday OCTOBER 10, Newsday

THE TT electorate, of course, have no reason whatever to doubt the genuineness of Monday's election results or the fact that the polling was properly conducted. While much of the credit for this may be given to the work of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, it is our view that the close scrutiny and checks carried out by representatives of all the parties together with the pressure placed on the EBC to get its house in order also played a part in the efficient running of the contest. With respect to the tranquillity of the balloting, we must commend the excellent protection provided by the Police at polling stations, but at the same time we must point out that TT has a history of peaceful voting and that Monday's exercise was simply another demonstration of the mature pattern that our people have long established.

We wish we could leave the matter of the elections at that, but we remain concerned over the attitude of EBC chairman Oswald Wilson who has apparently interpreted the constitutional independence that the Commission enjoys to mean that it is an untouchable organisation, a kind of sacred cow that should be immune to criticism or scrutiny and should be left alone to do whatever it sees fit regardless of the problems and the genuine questions that may arise over its operations.

We cannot help but be bothered by such an attitude, particularly since Mr Wilson heads one of the most important agencies in the country, one responsible for conducting the most vital exercise of our democracy, elections by which the people choose their representatives and their government.

Mr Wilson, for example, has reacted quite harshly to a report carried in this newspaper about alleged attempts at voter padding in the marginal constituency of Tunapuna. It was not a report that we had concocted; it was based strictly on persistent charges by people working on the ground in the constituency, charges which, in fact, a specially selected group of senior policemen has now been assigned to investigate. In a broadcast to the nation on Sunday night, Mr Wilson was severe in condemning the newspaper report which he described as "frivolous and wicked".

According to Police Commissioner Hilton Guy, these allegations are considered so serious that he has initiated a special investigation into them, but by contrast the EBC chairman is quick to blast the media for reporting on them. What really is Mr Wilson's problem? The EBC chairman seems incapable of grasping the fact that if the Commission's performance is flawed in any way then the nation's democracy is in danger. And it is the function of the Commission, not any newspaper, to investigate such reports and to ensure that the EBC's work is not compromised in any form or fashion. Mr Wilson does not understand that the electoral process must not only be wholesome but, to maintain public confidence, it must also be seen to be so.

Mr Wilson's attitude is difficult to understand. One would have thought that having in 1966 been a candidate himself for the Liberal party in a general election he would be more sensitive to the anxieties and uncertainties that often assail contesting politicians.

We were somewhat surprised, too, by Mr Wilson's reaction to the proposal of the government to appoint a managerial consultant to assist the EBC, based on the recommendations of the Deyalsingh Commission. Instead of expressing its concerns to the government in a spirit of cooperation, Mr Wilson declared the EBC's rejection by saying what the government wanted was "a PNM Commission". No responsible person would want to interfere with the independent running of the Commission, but the Chairman's idea of this independence seems quite misguided.