Press Release
March 3, 2007

KIKO ON THE NOTED ISSUE

"In the 2004 Presidential election canvass, by questioning 144 of the 177 Certificates of Canvass and asking that we resort to viewing the election returns, the opposition then had wanted the canvassing board to be turned into the presidential electoral tribunal. This is not allowed under the Constitution. When it was raised for the first time, we debated and discussed the law and the Constitutional provision lengthily. After which we had to note this same position of the opposition raised over and over for a total of 144 times. Not to simply note the position raised repeatedly would have meant that we would debate the same law and the same legal argument over and over 144 times. That would have caused undue delay on the proceedings. Delay then was one of many strategies employed by the opposition. They had succeeded in delaying the proceedings considerably considering that it took the board a month and a half before it finally proclaimed the winners of the 2004 elections. The Constitution provides that the canvassing board has no jurisdiction over electoral fraud because the task is given to the electoral tribunal. Our hands were tied by the Constitution. The opposition then had wanted us to violate the Constitution in order to address their grievances. It is like asking the police to convict an accused in his custody even if he has no authority to do so as the authority resides in our courts. In the end, we decided on a course of action with the Constitution as our sole guide, controversial though the decision may have been."

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