Elections and Boundaries Rules on Party Colors Amidst UDP Leadership Dispute

The Elections and Boundaries Commission’s decision on one colour for the Tracy Panton and the Moses Shyne Barrow factions, comes one day after the Barrow wrote to the Chief Elections Officer demanding exclusive use of the color red for the upcoming general elections. The party, led by Shyne Barrow, maintains that no members of the faction expelled from the UDP, including Tracy Panton, should be recognized as official UDP candidates.  In another letter sent to EBC Chairman Oscar Sabido Puga, Barrow emphasized that “factionalism” is explicitly prohibited by the party’s Constitution. It stated that the EBC should not assign the traditional UDP red color to any individual not officially recognized by the UDP, as the party has already submitted the names of its twenty-five approved candidates. The UDP also made it clear that if the EBC includes anyone outside of the officially recognized slate, it would be an infringement on the party’s internal affairs and an overstep of the EBC’s authority. Yesterday, the party’s Leader Shyne Barrow had emphasized that he believes any candidate not a part of his slate should be allowed to use the color red. 

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, UDP Party Leader: “You know I don’t bluff. When Hondora made a decision we didn’t agree with we went to the Court of Appeal. A lot of people talk it. They have five terms in office and claim to be so sophisticated yet they are just talk. I go to the courts. I believe in the judiciary and I look at none other than Michael Ashcroft, loses in the Supreme Court, lose in the Court of Appeal, always wins in the CCJ. So when it comes to democracy, when it comes to the rule of the law you  go through the process. So when it comes to the Elections and Boundaries if they take a decision that we don’t agree with we will go to court. My lawyer, I’ll send you the letter from my lawyer, I wrote a letter from the party this morning to the Chief Elections Officer and lawyers are following up because we need to see what they today to tell them well we think you’ll do this and if you do this, this is what we will do. No let’s see what they do and we’ll file a civil action.”

Barrow did threaten that if the EBC did not resolve the issue promptly, the matter may escalate to legal action if not addressed.