More than one million voters to elect a new government in Trinidad
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — More than one million voters in Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls on Monday to elect a new government, with the opinion polls -official and unofficial- suggesting that the outcome is too close to call.
While there are 161 candidates and 17 political parties contesting the 41 seats in the Parliament, the race, as it has been over the past decades, will be a straight fight between the incumbent People’s National Movement (PNM) and the main opposition United National Congress (UNC).
There are an estimated 1,154,708 Trinidadians who are eligible to cast ballots at the 2,130 polling stations on Monday. Chief Executive Officer of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Fern Narcis-Scope, said the EBC is prepared for the event.
The polls will be observed by teams from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth.
The election will be the first after the EBC redrew the lines for 16 constituencies and renamed five. The Commission has had to deal with a number of issues during the run-up to Monday’s polls, including being “made aware of a falsified document currently in circulation that inaccurately claims affiliations between the Commission’s Chief Election Officer and several Returning Officers, with a political party.
“These unfounded assertions seriously misrepresent the truth and pose a direct threat to the integrity of the electoral process and the forthcoming parliamentary elections,” the EBC said, as it “categorically rejects and unequivocally condemns these baseless claims”.
The police have also informed that they are actively investigating reports of voter intimidation and voter suppression and that their disclosure of a threat to disrupt the polls appears to have spoiled those plans.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Junior Benjamin, in a statement on Saturday, said the police have received intelligence suggesting that certain individuals were preparing to engage in activities aimed at influencing voter turnout.
“These activities, classified as voter suppression, include the offering of inducements to sway voter choice, as well as the use of intimidation and threats to discourage or manipulate voters. Intelligence assessments indicate that both strategies were under active consideration.”
Crime and the state of the economy have emerged as key issues in the campaign for the election.
