Dareece Polo
Senior Reporter
dareece.polo@guardian.co.tt
The United National Congress (UNC) has scored a victory in the High Court against the Central Bank of T&T (CBTT) and the Attorney General to prevent the dismissal of one of the party’s nominees for Local Government Elections who was threatened with termination.
Justice Kevin Ramcharan granted an emergency injunction last night effectively blocking the CBTT from terminating UNC nominee Lyndon de Gannes who is vying for the Malabar North constituency under the Arima Borough Corporation. He faced dismissal as a Chauffeur II if he failed to withdraw his candidacy or resign. He had been working with the company for the past 28 years.
On June 26, de Gannes filed his nomination form with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). He received a letter from his employer two days later, informing him of the work rules and regulations in the CBTT’s code of conduct as set out in its Human Resource Manual (2015) which prohibits staff from running for political office. He was given until June 30 to decide. The letter to De Gannes said “No employee can continue in the Bank’s employ while running for political office. In the circumstances, please confirm to the undersigned your position regarding withdrawal as a candidate in the 2023 Local Government Elections by June 30, 2023”.
De Gannes wrote to the CBTT to ask for some time, however, they reportedly refused.
In his affidavit filed before the court, he said the bank’s decision was “fundamentally unfair.”
He is being represented by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, and Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial.
The regulations
The relevant regulations state: “06.03.04. Political Activity and Participation: The Bank encourages our employees to exercise their civic rights. However, as the Bank must operate in an objective, impartial and balanced manner, and be seen to be politically independent, our employees shall not run for, nor hold a political, local government, borough council or parliamentary office.”