How
they voted
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
11 11 07
Heading
to Government for another term, the People’s
National Movement (PNM) completed yesterday’s
general election race with preliminary results
of 26 seats over the United National Congress’ (UNC-A)
15 seats.
Both parties trounced the new Congress of the
People (COP) which lost in all of the 41 constituencies.
COP
leader Winston Dookeran—who lost his
former St Augustine seat—conceded defeat
by 10.45 pm.
PNM
leader Patrick Manning—who appeared
set to lead his party back into Government for
another term—declared victory where his own
San Fernando East seat was concerned, at 11.20
pm.
Manning said the constituency which had elected
him to serve for a tenth consecutive year, had
made history with the move.
He also called for the public to put aside all
animosities now that the election was over.
“The one thing we know is that in a society
like ours we must dwell together in harmony,” Manning
added.
Manning
left south Trinidad to head up to PNM’s
Balisier House headquarters, where a packed courtyard
of PNMites in red had been celebrating since 10
pm when the party’s lead had been established.
Manning took the PNM to victory in 1991. He also
headed a PNM Government in 2001 for a year following
the 18-18 election deadlock of that year. And he
again headed the PNM which won the 2002 election
with 20 seats.
PNM’s
campaign manager Conrad Enill, speaking at 12.30
am, said the preliminary results for the
party was a 26-seat win.
Panday: Tremendous
success for UNC-A
Over
at UNC headquarters—where supporters
had started gathering since 8 pm—UNC leader
Basdeo Panday said around 10.50 pm that his party
had had tremendous success.
Panday
who won his Couva North seat—and
will be returning to the Parliament—added:
“The people have lost and the “mafia” has
won. Crime has won, high prices have won and other
problems in T&T have won since all of those
things will continue. If that is what people want,
well they will have it.
“One
thing I do know is that if I were Mr Manning
I would reward Winston Dookeran very handsomely
because had the COP not split the opposition votes,
the UNC-A would have won the elections.”
Based on the results up to that time, Panday agreed,
the UNC-A would be heading to the Opposition bench
of the Parliament.
Panday said he did not know if he would be Opposition
Leader.
He
added: “Our MPs will meet and decide,
but that doesn’t matter. The point is that
the mafia has won since they got the COP to split
the votes and made it possible for the PNM to win.
And if this is what the people want they have got
it.”
According
to yesterday’s preliminary results
of 15 UNC seats, the party now has one less than
the 16 seats it possessed in the last Parliament.
Dookeran:
T&T not ready for change
At
COP headquarters—where some supporters
had gathered—COP leader Dookeran said on
television in a solemn tone:
“From the disappointing results we have
seen the country is not ready for the change we
offered. We still believe a change will one day
become the reality for people in T&T.
“Let us not consider this day the darkest
day in T&T as you will be tempted to do.
“Let
us look at it as an effort made by thousands
of citizens and to break the politics
of the past and give the politics of the future
a change.”
Dookeran,
who said the COP was here to stay and that the
youth of the T&T would “do what
is right,” added:
“For
now the politics of the past has won but I know
we are right and it will happen.”
Dookeran lost the St Augustine seat which he had
won initially under a UNC ticket.
UNC’s
Vasant Bharath won the seat for UNC last night.
Dookeran had formed the COP with several former
UNC MPs last September when they fell out with
the UNC leadership.
PNM took an early lead in several seats including
San Juan/Barataria and Pointe-a-Pierre. UNC picked
up its safe seats including Mayaro, which Winston
Peters won.
The total registered electorate was 990,352.
EBC
estimates put yesterday’s voter turn-out
at around 53 per cent. This was at midnight, when
boxes of ballots were still coming in.
The voter turnout in the 2002 election was approximately
69 per cent.
Yesterday’s
voting exercise which started at 6 am and ended
at 6 pm, was free from violence,
police confirmed.
There were several complaints from the UNC and
COP on various issues.
PNM seats
Arima
Arouca
Barataria/San Juan
Chaguanas East
Diego Martin Central
Diego Martin North East
Diego Martin West
D’Abadie/O’Meara
La Brea
La Horquetta/Talparo
Laventille East/Morvant
Laventille West
Lopinot/Bon Air West
Point Fortin
Pointe-a-Pierre
Port-of-Spain
North/St Ann’s
Port-of-Spain South
St
Ann’s East
Princes Town South/Tableland
San Fernando East
San Fernando West
St Joseph
Tobago East
Tobago West
Toco/Sangre Grande
Tunapuna
UNC seats
Caroni Central
Caroni East
Chaguanas West
Couva North
Couva South
Cumuto Manzanilla
Fyzabad
Mayaro
Naparima
Oropouche East
Oropouche West
Princes Town North
Siparia
St Augustine
Tabaquite
Story
by Gail
Alexander from
The Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday 6th October, 2007
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