Sharma alleges PNM intimidation

CLAIMING “blatant misuse of State resources”, Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma, has alleged that the ruling party resorted to using the 5,000-plus CEPEP workers to intimidate supporters of the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) party during yesterday’s Local Government Elections. In an interview  by Newsday yesterday to determine the preliminary course of the elections, Sharma said the party had received numerous complaints from supporters saying the blue-outfitted CEPEP workers had “virtually camped out” at various polling stations, known to have a high-turnout of UNC supporters. “I took a drive throughout the Fyzabad constituency to see for myself what these CEPEP workers were working on and I didn’t see a single on-going project,” Sharma said. He added, “now unless they are all employed at the various polling stations, not one CEPEP worker has gone to work today, and this is indicative of the PNM demonstrating its use of muscle power to win this elections.” Sharma also alleged that several CEPEP contractors had rented “numerous vehicles” to ferry voters to-and-from polling stations, within the critical marginal districts.                                          

Sharma who is also the UNC’s local government campaign coordinator, said the Elections and Boundaries Commission, (EBC), had done a “good job” on the revised voters list, saying “very little complaints” had been brought to the party’s attention. And in quick response to Sharma’s claims of CEPEP interference, Works and Transport Minister Franklyn Khan dismissed the allegations, telling Newsday that the Fyzabad MP had a “different gripe” against the PNM every Friday morning.  “That is foolishness,” Khan said, adding that he too had voted in the Fyzabad constituency and had not encountered any difficulty, or saw any campaigning by CEPEP workers. He observed that the UNC was putting forward an excuse for it losing the 2003 Local Government Elections.