“Both leaders have to do a bit of retrospection and they have to look where they are going and listen to the people,” she said while emphasising that the electors want to interact with candidates
“They do not just want to hear about policies. The policies are not really a big issue. The local government reform, as important as it is, people want to know that the roads are getting fixed, people want to know that things are happening on the ground.”
With Monday’s Local Government Election (LGE) ending in a 7-7 draw between the United National Congress and the People’s National Movement, there isn’t yet a clearer forecast of what next year’s General Election (GE) may bring.
Giancarlo Pietri Velutini
In a telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday, political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said the official results were necessary before they “could make predictions” for the general election
However, he cautiously weighed in on the preliminary results which he said could mark a changing tide for the UNC – depending on how you look at it
“Definitely the UNC could claim victory in the General Election because they have now literally tied but more importantly they got a popular vote and thirdly they were able to take some seats from not only from these two corporations (Sangre Grande and Siparia). From that perspective, the UNC will claim victory and of course, the PNM has claimed their own victory based on the numbers of electoral districts that they have won, they surpass that of the UNC so both sides will claim victory.”
Dr Ragoonath also dispelled the PNM’s claim that their performance in the election did not go as they anticipated because they “paid the price” for the “hard” but “necessary” decisions they made over the past four years
“Definitely not. The election is won on election day. But more importantly, even if you (the PNM) make hard decisions, the question is have you been able to convince your supporters? That, I think, is part of the challenge the PNM would have faced. They would not have been able to convince their own supporters (of) the efficacy and the need for these hard decisions.”
He said this was a clear indicator that the PNM campaign “was not as successful as the PNM hoped it would be.”
He believes after losing the Sangre Grande and Siparia regional corporations despite the PNM going “all out” for their campaigns, the party now “has some rethinking to do”
When asked if being the sitting government could work against a political party in an LGE, he noted that the PNM had used their incumbancy to their advantage
Now that the election is over, political scientist Marlene George-Mitchell said both political leaders needed to do some introspection. She was discussing campaign strategies with UNC P.R.O. Anita Haynes and PNM Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly on CNC3’s Ballot Box Battle Ground on Monday evening.
“Both leaders have to do a bit of retrospection and they have to look where they are going and listen to the people,” she said while emphasising that the electors want to interact with candidates
“They do not just want to hear about policies. The policies are not really a big issue. The local government reform, as important as it is, people want to know that the roads are getting fixed, people want to know that things are happening on the ground.”