Commentary in the wake of the historic local government elections in Trinidad and Tobago
By Dr Neil Gosine
UNC on the rise!
The local government election was keenly contested but we can see that Kamla Persad -Bissessar popularity is on the rise and this can be seen clearly by the United National Congress (UNC) receiving 173,961 of the votes.
The People’s National Movement (PNM) popularity is decreasing with the party receiving 130,868 votes out of 331,300 votes cast. The UNC got 43,093 more votes than the PNM. This is even more impressive given that the UNC only contested 110 seats while the PNM contested 141 seats.
If you are to add the votes the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) received which is 15,997 votes, you can see the popularity of the PNM is at an all time low. People are fed up with them and the low turnout at the polls for them can attest to this.
The UNC fought 31 seats less than the PNM and they have surpassed them in the number of votes by thousands and thousands. The UNC also received more votes than all the other parties contesting the elections combined and shows its rise in popularity.
So you tell me what exactly is the Prime Minister celebrating in a 7-7 results? The PNM spent millions and millions on this election evidenced by the number of advertisements and several broadcast chats with the Prime Minister. It’s no wonder former Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Terry Rondon was moved to tears by the licking the PNM received in Sangre Grande. It was a crushing defeat by 6-2. The PNM has thrown away all the citizens’ hopes and aspirations in the last 8 years as they have performed terribly in the last eight years. The PNM is dying!
All citizens are calling for a change in government at this stage, like they are calling for better roads, reduction in crime and heinous murders, and affordable food prices at the groceries.
As the UNC grows from strength to strength, they will use this time, the next two years to increase their popularity and appeal to the electorate and become the next Government of Trinidad and Tobago, while the PNM will probably have to look at removing their leader, their bully, their non performing narcissist to increase their popularity and move their political momentum forward.
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Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He is also the treasurer of the United National Congress and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies.