Race to the THA

Following the news of a procedural blunder which almost led to the postponement of tomorrow’s Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election, Parliament this weekend agreed to validate the January 23 election, reportedly because of errors made by the Office of the President and Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

The passage of the THA Election Validation Bill in the House of Representatives on Friday and the Senate yesterday clears the way for the election to take place, tomorrow, after Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi explained during the emergency sittings that the error was made in which the required 21 days from Nomination Day on January 3 to polling day, January 23, could not be met.

Former chief secretary and political leader of the Platform of Truth Hochoy Charles had raised serious concerns about the issue at a meeting in Golden Lane, Tobago, last week, insisting that the election would have had to be declared null and void and in violation of the Representation of the People Act.

But now that the matter has been resolved the election will go ahead as scheduled.

The run-up to the tomorrow’s poll had all the makings of a general election campaign - bombshells, allegations, music trucks, political party songs and picong.

But after a brief and contentious campaign, more than 40,000 Tobagonians are expected to, once again, vote for the best candidates to lead the THA over the next four years.

The People’s National Movement (PNM), led by new political leader of the party’s Tobago Council Kelvin Charles, is hoping to retain its hold on the Assembly after its landslide 12-0 win in the 2013 THA election.

The PNM, currently headed by outgoing Chief Secretary Orville London, has had an unbroken, 16-year reign of governance in the THA.

However, there has been talk, even within party circles, that the victory the party enjoyed, four years ago, may not be as overwhelming this time around.

“I feel they will win but is a matter of many seats,” one woman said in Scarborough, the island’s capital. In fact, some Tobagonians interviewed by Sunday Newsday believe that the PNM will not win all of the seats in the Assembly.

“Although they have done a generally great amount of work, there are some representatives that simply did not perform,” said a John Dial resident.

It is widely felt that the Christlyn Moore-led Tobago Forwards and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), headed by Watson Duke, would determine how the PNM fares in the election.

All three parties, the PNM, PDP and Tobago Forwards, are each fielding 12 candidates in the election while the Movement For Transformation (MFT), led by former Tobago East MP Eudine Job-Davis, has just three candidates. They are contesting the electoral districts of Moriah/ Mason Hall/Providence; Belle Garden East/Roxborough/Delaford and Black Rock/Whim/ Spring Garden. Charles, who quit his job as THA presiding officer to contest the PNM’s leadership election, last July, expressed confidence that the party will retain control of the THA.

“The PNM is quite confident of retaining control of the Tobago House of Assembly,” said Charles, who is contesting the Black Rock/ Whim/Spring Garden electoral district. Charles said the party’s campaign was structured around its record of achievement in Tobago as well its plan to further develop the island.

He told Sunday Newsday: “We would have spoken in respect of our record because you are talking about 16 years of continuous service and in terms of that you are taking four consecutive four-year terms and, therefore, we had a responsibility to remind persons of where we were in 2001 when we just took over to where we are now in 2016.” Saying the period was marked by unprecedented delivery and performance, Charles scoffed at remarks by the PNM’s opponents about lacklustre representation over the years.

“How could somebody be around for 16 years and you say you don’t like them and they have done nothing?” he asked.

“So, that in itself has de-legitimised their argument but it allowed us to outline our significant achievements over those 16 years.” Among other issues, Charles said the party addressed issues relating to inter-island transportation “because it was generating much dissatisfaction among our people.” He said the party’s vision going forward - including some major projects that had been in the pipeline since 2010 - represented its core developmental strategies “as we seek to take Tobago further to the next level.” “In essence, we are saying that a platform has been built. So what is required now is to take Tobago further together and in doing so we had as part of our core messaging enhancing delivery and strengthening partnerships,” he said.

PDP leader Watson Duke also said his party stood the best chance of winning the election, largely because of its focus on ground-up politics.“Because of the contemporary thinking of our candidates, we have been so organized to transform Tobago from a shanty town to the economic hub of the Caribbean,” he said.

“And so, we will be returning to the people those things that have been given to us, through our Mandate.” Duke, who is also the president of the Public Services Association (PSA), said the tone of the campaign was tainted by what he regarded as the distasteful utterings of PNM candidate for Bon-Accord/ Canaan Clarence Jacob and more recently, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Tobago Forwards leader Christlyn Moore.

Jacob, at a political meeting, said, “No country man can’t run town” (as Chief Secretary), in reference to Duke, who is originally from Roxborough.

The statements against Duke were construed as being both biased and condescending to the people of Tobago East and was a major talking point on the campaign. Both Charles and Jacob subsequently apologized for the statement.

Days, later, in Mason Hall, Rowley told Tobagonians who support Duke should not “cross my fence,” while Moore, on a live radio interview in Scarborough on Friday, alleged that Trinidadians were being shuttled to Tobago to vote.

Moore reportedly encouraged hoteliers on the island to put “visine” in the water used in their establishments presumably to prevent Trinidadians from voting.

She, too, has since apologized for her comments.

Duke yesterday said apologies were not enough.

“We have no sorry in this campaign,” he said.

Duke recalled that both the PNM and Tobago Forwards had agreed to conduct a clean campaign through the national Code of Conduct, established by the Council For Responsible Political Behaviour, of which political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath is chairman.

The PDP leader said crime, permanent employment and greater access to healthcare for Tobagonians were the front-burner topics on their campaign.

MFT leader Eudine Job-Davis, heading into tomorrow’s election with just three candidates, said there was a “confidence crisis” among leaders on the island.

“People have lost trust and that is big negative in Tobago’s history,” she said.

“I think the reason for that is unfulfilled expectations.” Saying that Tobagonians were mainly concerned about the future of their communities, Job-Davis claimed that in Roxborough, people complained that the hospital had not yet come in to existence.

“Over the past 16 years, the THA would have done the blue prints and to date nothing has happened,” she said. The former Tobago East MP said people have also complained about a lack of accountability and transparency.

“They are saying, where has the over $35 billion gone? That is a sentiment right through our system,” she said.

Job-Davis also complained about an apathy among voters.

She told Sunday Newsday: “That is the greatest challenge, to motivate people to go back to the polls. People are saying ‘We need a change, we want a change but I eh really voting because we don’t know who we can trust.’ “The challenge then is to motivate them and be part of the change because somebody has to run the THA,” she added. Job-Davis said the MFT’s Constitution stipulates two term limits for Chief Secretary as well as the right to recall or representatives.

“We ought not to be in and Assembly for 16 years,” she said.

She added that if are allegations of corruption levelled against an assemblyman or woman, it will be investigated.

“If found guilty, those persons will be asked to leave and will be prosecuted.

The population is just tired of hearing all these allegations of corruption and nothing is happening. We think in Tobago we need to set an example.” Job-Davis said the party was also concerned about the sustainable development of the island by way of job creation, self-employment and innovation.

The Tobago Forwards, which, in a short period, has emerged as a political force on the island, campaigned on the basis of promoting the holistic development of the island and restoring dignity and pride to its citizens.

Its key areas of focus included a living wage for workers, especially those employed in make-work programmes such as the CEPEP, where they have promised a 40 per cent salary increase across the board.

The party, hoping to produce the THA’s first female Chief Secretary in attorney and former justice minister Christlyn Moore, also has promised to construct 800 houses over the next four years as part of its blueprint development plan.

Tobago Forwards has throughout their campaign, also complained of financial irregularities in the THA’s makework programmes over the years.

The PNM and PDP yesterday hosted rallies in Scarborough while the Tobago Forwards held a motorcade throughout the island.