PORT-OF-SPAIN – The Opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) on Monday faced its second comprehensive electoral defeat in as many months, winning a mere three of the 14 regional corporations in the Local Government elections – Point Fortin, Port of Spain and San Juan/Laventille.The People’s Partnership continued to ride the crest of popularity and victory, consolidating its stranglehold on the political process. It won overwhelmingly securing control of 11 corporations. It snatched from the PNM five corporations that it formerly held.Out of the 134 electoral districts, the People’s Partnership won 111, while the PNM won 23.Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was confident of a “landslide victory”, had said that the party expected to win ten of the 14 corporations. It did better than that. The electorate bought into her party’s call for the completion of the victory started on May 24 with its 29/12 win. Consequently the PNM, which had called on the electorate to bring some political “balance” did not achieve this objective.When the local government election was last held seven years ago in 2003, the PNM won nine corporations, the United National Congress four, with a tie in one. The roles this time were reversed.Reinforcing what happened in the May 24 general election, the PNM lost control of the Arima Corporation, the Sangre Grande Corporation, the San Fernando Corporation, the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, the Diego Martin Corporation and Siparia Corporation.The last time the PNM was defeated in a Local Government election was in September 1987 when it lost under the leadership of Patrick Manning 70/46 to the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). In that case (as in this) its loss was also immediately preceded by a devastating general election defeat.Asked if the result reflected adversely on his leadership, PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley said while as leader he took responsibility for what has happened, “I don’t think any person who is reasonable would judge my capacity on a three-week assignment. Politics requires a bit more than that”.“I have been leader of the PNM for how many weeks? I was inducted as PNM leader on [a] Sunday, we started screening candidates on Monday and the election was three weeks away,” he said.
(Trinidad Express)
