U.D.P. Chairman Says Vetting Process was Thorough and Free of Bias

The vetting of the signatures was a process that was overseen by U.D.P. Secretary General Juliet Thimbrel, along with Chairman Michael Peyrefitte.  According to the presiding officer of the United Democratic Party, despite the retraction of signatures ahead of the formal submission on Friday, it was still a long-drawn-out process to ensure that the petitions were legitimate.  Notwithstanding criticism from both sides of the intra-party divide, Peyrefitte says that the process was clear and objective.

Michael Peyrefitte

Michael Peyrefitte, Chairman, United Democratic Party

“You had enough disqualifications and retractions before the document was even submitted by the people who were calling for the recall.  Before the document was taken in to the headquarters last week Friday, you already had retractions coming in.  So it’s not even a matter about quarreling about whether or not you can put your signature and take it back.  In essence, before it became even a live issue, you had people who were already retracting their signatures and, listen, if you pay attention to the back and forth that’s been had by these two so-called factions, if you will, I have stayed completely clear of that to the chagrin of both sides because I believe that as the chairman of the party, I have to be objective.  The secretariat has to be above board and objective. Now the person spearheading this process to make sure that this process was fair, was Juliet Thimbrel and if you know Juliet Thimbrel and if you know myself, we as a team, we’re not going to take any side over anybody or something else for the sake of some bias when it comes to the type of attention that is being paid to this matter.  We meticulously went over everything to make sure that if the threshold was met, then the recall convention would be triggered.  If it wasn’t met then it would not be triggered.  What you have there was the result of an objective process that took us over the weekend, countless hours and time, thanks to the secretariat and the people who made sure that everything was in place and that’s what we do.  We’re not for the recall, we’re not against the recall.  We are for the U.D.P. and we want to make sure that the process is followed and the constitution is respected.”