Calypsonian Morel “King Luta” Peters has threatened to take legal action against the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) over its failure to hold a by-election following the passing of former TUCO president Lutalo “Brother Resistance” Massimba in July.
In a pre-action protocol letter sent to TUCO’s General Secretary, last week, and obtained by Guardian Media, attorney Peter Taylor, who is representing Peters, challenged former TUCO vice president Ainsley King being installed in the top post following a meeting of the organisation’s general council, late last month.
Referring to a press release issued by TUCO following the meeting, Taylor said: “The foregoing excerpt gives the entirely misleading and false impression that upon the death of a sitting president, the vice president automatically assumes the substantive office of the president.”
Taylor pointed to Article 9(j) of the organisation’s constitution, which states that the General Council has the power to fill a vacancy by the show of hands or by secret ballot until the by-election takes place which will be no later than three months of such vacancy arising.
He also highlighted Article 13(2) of the constitution, which he said states that the president shall be elected by secret ballot only.
“Thus while by Article 9(j) the General Council has the power to fill a vacancy by a show of hands or by secret ballot upon a vacancy arising, this provision in my view is a temporary or stop-gap measure to ensure continuity in the organisation upon the sudden or untimely death or resignation of a member but cannot supersede the clear provisions of Article 13(2) in so far as it relates to the election of the President to the substantive post,” Taylor said.
Taylor sought to highlight the role of the president, which includes presiding over all meetings except zonal meetings, the appointment of committees and clerical staff and being the chief negotiator for the advancement of the organisation.
“The president’s responsibilities and powers are therefore both wide-ranging and far-reaching and his election ought to be secured by broad consensus as contemplated by Article 13(2),” Taylor said.
Taylor called upon the organisation to host the by-election for the post of president instead of seeking to fill the vacancy left by King being elevated.
“Should you fail to do so, please be advised that we have our client’s firm instructions to explore all legal avenues to compel you to do same,” Taylor said.
In a telephone interview, King rejected Taylor’s and by extension Peters’ claims.
“As far as I am concerned with that letter, I do see it going anywhere,” King said.
“The General Council made the decision and has the power to do so. No court in Trinidad can come and reverse that. Nobody can reverse that,” King said.
He firstly questioned why the legal correspondence was sent to the organisation’s general secretary and not directly to the General Council for its consideration.
King, the former Chairman of TUCO’s Tobago Zone, noted that after Massimba passed away on July 13, he called a meeting of the General Council to chart the way forward and received the nod to take control of the organisation. He also stated that he never assumed the post but was rather duly appointed through a vote of the General Council.
“I threw the direction and future of the organisation in the hands of them. They were the ones who decided that based on what is happening and the interpretation, let us have a vote and vote was taken,” King said.
King said that the alleged need for a secret ballot bye-election for the post of President was raised and the general council rejected it as members pointed out that a vote by a show of hands had been used to fill vacancies in the executive three times in the past without objection.
“It did not happen once, it did not happen twice and nobody recognised that there was a need for a by-election in three months,” King said, as he noted that Peters was active in the organisation when the precedent was set in the past.
King stated that if Peters had an issue he could have written to the General Council and sought an audience at its meeting or make a request through the South Zone as it had made contributions over the need to fill the post of Vice President after his elevation.
King suggested that Peters’ complaint was not based on principle or genuine concern for the organisation but based on a personal issue with him.
“He is writing on what I consider to be hatred. You see, for years he tried to get me to give him support in TUCO and I gave it to Brother Resistance,” King said, as he claimed that the votes of TUCO’s Tobago Zone usually proved to be the decider in TUCO executive elections.
“People call me and cussed me stink after Luta lost on two occasions because the Tobago vote did not go in favour of him,” he added.