Timothy Rowley wins new term as Trinidad & Tobago prime minister

Voters in oil-rich Trinidad & Tobago have returned to power the government of Prime Minister Keith Rowley for 5 more years in Monday’s general elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

But main opposition leader and former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is contesting the tight race, demanding a recount in 3 marginal Parliament seats separating her United National Congress (UNC), from Rowley’s People National Movement (PNM).

“The battle was so close that we are not officially conceding until we get the results of the recounts we have demanded in 3 key marginal constituencies,” Persad-Bissessar posted on her Facebook page Tuesday following the announcement that PNM candidates had won 22 seats in Parliament while the UNC won 19.

Taking a swipe at Rowley, who first won office in 2015, Persad-Bissessar said as an opposition party, the UNC has served the citizens of Trinidad & Tobago “more than the Rowley regime in every possible way – despite them having access to our state resources.”

“Rest assured that we will continue to do this without fail at every step of the way in this new Parliamentary term,” she told supporters.

For now, Persad-Bissessar’s unprecedented decision to not concede defeat, means that Rowley cannot appoint a new cabinet until a winner is officially declared.

Some analysts call the move a risky one for Persad-Bissessar, who was forced to fight back accusations that she was trying to divide the country’s 1.3 million citizens, who are mostly of Afro-Caribbean and East Indian descent, by referring to Rowley as a “black man on the other side” during a campaign speech. Persad-Bissessar, who is of East Indian descent, insisted that she had referred to Rowley as “a blank man.” She said Rowley was the one trying to sow divisions.

In a Monday radio broadcast, veteran Trinidadian journalist Rennie Bishop said the elections should be a lesson to all politicians trying to divide a nation occupied by many ethnicities.

”Those who seek to trade in class, caste, color, variation of color are people who need to grow up, learn that the world is moving on,” Bishop said. “It is a new world, a new era, a new time and a new challenge for this nation.”

In addition to the accusations of race baiting, Persad-Bissessar and the UNC also faced questions about corruption amid a police investigation involving members of her UNC government between 2010-15.