In what was considered a close race, the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) won the general election on Monday defeating the coalition People’s Partnership (PP) of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar that came to power in 2010.
The preliminary figures show that the PNM won 22 of the 41 seats with the remaining 19 going to the PP that had won 29 seats in the 2010 general election.
“I want to thank all the people for the very hard work they did in bringing a successful end in what was a difficult election. I want to thank Trinidad and Tobago for demonstrating once again that we can conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of the name Trinidad and Tobago,” PNM leader Dr. Keith Rowley told reporters.
Rowley, 66, one of the longest serving Parliamentarians said the election proceedings “have gone down relatively smooth.
“Election day had some challenges but at the end of the day, once again I think we had a very successful operation and I am pleased to be in a position to say that the PNM has won the majority of the seats.
“We are confident that the country has been placed in good hands, we have prepared ourselves well, we expect that we will take the responsibilities of managing the affairs of all the people of Trinidad and Tobago in a way that will allow us all as a people to look at tonight …as the beginning of a new era.”
Both Persad Bissessar and Rowley easily retained the seats they had in Parliament over the past two decades.
Up to Tuesday morning, Persad Bissessar has not conceded defeat as yet, but a number of government ministers including Roger Samuels, Lincoln Douglas, attorney general Garvin Nicholas, as well as the former president of the Senate, Raziah Ahmed, were among the casualties of the poll.
The PNM was also able to regain the two seats in Tobago it lost in 2010 with.
