News
Trinidad & Tobago: Keith Rowley and his PNM party win election
The PNM won 23 of the 41 seats contested by some 123 candidates in the polls in what many suggest was a high voter turnout among the approximately 1.1 million electorate.
The polls were extended by one hour after heavy mid-afternoon showers caused traffic and disrupted voting, prompting elections officials to extend the deadline for voting.
During voting, Rowley complained of canvassing by one of the candidates in Persad-Bissessar’s coalition, alleging he sent out text messages calling on constituents to vote for him. Persad-Bissessar said there is no expressed provision in the law about digital canvassing, but noted that “it has been a tradition that we don’t openly canvass on elections day.”
Persad-Bissessar, a 63-year-old attorney, leads the United National Congress (UNC), a party that grew out of a trade union for sugar plantation workers, mainly of Indian origin.
“We must respect the wishes of the people. They have chosen and I respect their wishes. I am disappointed of course but we must respect the democratic process,” she said.
Asked if she had any regrets, Persad-Bissessar said she had none.
“I have no regrets about how I governed the country. None. Should I have a chance I would do it (the same way) again. I am very much at peace with myself that I did my best but for some it was not good enough. And I don’t regret it,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar, who has been in office since 2010, continues to enjoy high popularity ratings. But she has struggled to fend off corruption allegations, concerns about violent crime and an economic contraction.
Her claims of stabilizing the economy and maintaining growth despite a drop in the islands’ oil and gas revenues were debunked by statistics released three days before the vote indicating the economy contracted by 1.2 percent and unemployment increased to 3.7 percent, with the loss of more than 20,000 jobs in the first quarter of the year.
Source: AFP
