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All 36 seats in the House of Representatives 19 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 69.6 (![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early general elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 7 October 2002, [1] after People's National Movement leader Patrick Manning had failed to secure a majority in the hung parliament produced by the 2001 elections. [2] This time the PNM was able to secure a majority, winning 20 of the 36 seats. Voter turnout was 69.6%. [3]
From 1995–2000, the two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago, the United National Congress and the People's National Movement competed for political power. Both parties had the same number of representatives in Parliament, however a coalition formed between the UNC and the two-seat National Alliance for Reconstruction allowed the UNC majority status. The 2000 general elections further solidified the UNC's presence in government, as they won a majority of seats. In 2001, early general elections were triggered by a sudden defection of four Representatives from the UNC. In the subsequent elections both the UNC and the PNM won 18 seats in the House of Representatives. With a second lack of majority, both UNC leader Basdeo Panday and PNM leader Patrick Manning agreed to respect the decision of President A. N. R. Robinson, who both parties asked to select a new Prime Minister. Despite the UNC having received 49.9% of the vote to the PNM's 46.5%, Robinson, commending his "moral and spiritual values", [4] selected Manning as Prime Minister. However, without a majority of House of Representative Seats, and faced with a hung parliament, Manning was forced to call for new elections the following year.
The lack of political stability in the Trinidad and Tobago government led to a tense election climate. Accusations of ballot box tampering were levied against PNM campaign managers and other political agents. [5] In April 2002 reports indicated that Franklyn Khan, the Minister of Works and Transport and PNM party chairman, along with Eric Williams, the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, received bribes from a local PNM councilman. Although the reports have not been validated, Khan resigned from his cabinet post in May of the following year.
However, the PNM was not the only political party to face controversy during the nine months between elections. With political control only guaranteed for a short while, the newly established PNM government quickly used political resources to sway the public and taint the reputation of the UNC. Under directives from Manning, several Commissions of Inquiry were established to investigate allegations of UNC corporate and political corruption, bribery, and voter padding. [6] The main focus of PNM investigations was the development of the Piarco Airport. Manning tasked his Commissions to inquire after the nature of contract acquisition and development of the airport, as well as allegations of corruption and fraud by several high-ranking members of the UNC. [4] While the investigations did lead to several instances of corruption and bribery, the Commissions better served the PNM by "severely tarnishing the image of the UNC". [4] [6]
Capitalizing on theatrical and public investigations into UNC misdeeds, and emphasizing a dynamic effort to increase transparency and end corruption, the PNM were able to frame themselves as the party "you can trust" and handily carried the October elections. [7]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
People's National Movement | 308,762 | 50.89 | 20 | +2 | |
United National Congress | 284,391 | 46.87 | 16 | –2 | |
National Alliance for Reconstruction | 6,776 | 1.12 | 0 | 0 | |
Citizens' Alliance | 5,983 | 0.99 | 0 | New | |
Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago | 662 | 0.11 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 193 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
Total | 606,767 | 100.00 | 36 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 606,767 | 99.54 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 2,804 | 0.46 | |||
Total votes | 609,571 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 875,260 | 69.64 | |||
Source: EBCTT, Nohlen |
The reaction of the government to the process of the 2002 election was irresolute. Historically, elections inflamed otherwise tranquil race relations within Trinidad and Tobago. Immediate reactions to the stymied election were disparate investigations of voter fraud across municipalities. [5] Manning increased the number of parliamentary seats from 36 to 41 in order to prevent any future ties, [8] and also appointed his wife as minister of Education. [9]
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from which the country gained its independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution, the monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also the political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell and was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.
The United National Congress is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unionist, and actor after a split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After spending six years in opposition, the UNC won control of the government in 1995, initially in coalition with the NAR and later on its own. In the 2000 general election, the UNC won an absolute majority in the Parliament. In 2001, a split in the party caused the UNC to lose its parliamentary majority and control of the government. From 2001 to 2010, the UNC was once again Parliamentary Opposition party. In May 2010, the UNC returned to government as the majority party in the People's Partnership. The UNC's Political Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Prime Minister from 2010 until 2015.
The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections since 1956 serving as the nation's governing party or on four occasions, the main opposition. It is one out of the country's two main political parties. There have been four PNM Prime Ministers and multiple ministries. The party espouses the principles of liberalism and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum.
The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005.
Ralph Maraj is a Trinidad and Tobago politician, actor, playwright, and teacher. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under a People's National Movement (PNM) administration, Minister of Communication and Information Technology under a United National Congress (UNC) administration, and was a founding member of National Team Unity before returning to the PNM to work as a speech writer for Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Prior to entering politics in 1991, Maraj worked as a teacher at Naparima College in San Fernando. He also attended that school. He wrote several plays, the most successful being Cynthia Sweetness. Maraj also starred in the movies The Right and The Wrong (1969) and Bim (1974), described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago".
Basdeo Panday was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North, Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.
The Congress of the People (COP) is a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Its current political leader is Kirt Sinnette. Its symbol is the "Circle of Circles".
Early general elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 10 December 2001, after the ruling United National Congress lost its majority in the House of Representatives following four defections. However, the election results saw the UNC and the People's National Movement both win 18 seats. Although the UNC received the most votes, President A. N. R. Robinson nominated PNM leader Patrick Manning as Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 66.1%.
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 24 May 2010. The date of the general elections was announced by Prime Minister Patrick Manning on April 16, 2010, via a press release. The election was called over two years earlier than required by law. Polls showing that the UNC-led opposition coalition was likely to win the election were confirmed by the subsequent results.
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Keith Christopher Rowley, is a Trinidadian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general election. He has led the People's National Movement (PNM) since May 2010 and was Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015. He has also served as the Member of the House of Representatives for Diego Martin West since 1991. He is a volcanologist by profession, holding a doctorate in geology, specializing in geochemistry.
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