In a comeback win that many did not think possible, the Rt Hon Kamla Persad-Bissessar was elected Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in the sudden elections held on 28 April. Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, the leader of the United National Congress (UNC), captured a decisive victory in Monday’s election, securing 26 out of a possible 41 seats in the House of Representatives, thus forming a majority government.
The UNC has unseated the former ruling party, the People’s National Movement (PNM), following its collapse, which began in March. The former Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, abruptly resigned from power in March and appointed his then Minister of Energy, Stuart Young, as his successor. Young’s rise to power without election or due process created much controversy, as his rule was seen as illegitimate.
What proved to be a major error, Young decided to call an early election, hoping to gain the majority of seats and therefore a majority ruling government. However, due to his controversial appointment as the head of the PNM, as well as general dissatisfaction with PNM rule, voters overturned his rule and spoke out against his illegitimacy as a leader, opting to elect Kamla Persad-Bissessar instead.
This now marks Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar’s second term in power, as she was Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015, and to this day remains Trinidad and Tobago’s only female Prime Minister in history.
Persad-Bissessar’s campaign involved reversing economic stagnation and targeting the surging crime rates the country has been experiencing over the past years. She has promised to increase the wages of public workers and reopen Petrotrin, a state oil company that, if reopened, would create 50,000 jobs. “This victory is for the public servants, the senior citizens, and our children,” she told supporters in a speech Monday night.
The UNC’s support was the strongest in working-class districts and in urban centres, where voters were disillusioned with the PNM’s approach to handling inflation and crime. Recently, a state of emergency was declared due to endless months of gang violence, a deciding factor in the election of Persad-Bissessar. Whether the new Prime Minister can now unite a polarised nation remains to be seen.
