Congratulations to the PNM on its 10 to 2 win in the THA elections of 2017. This is of course a regression from the results of the 2013 THA elections when the party won all 12 seats. The party has clearly lost some ground but is still in control of the THA, which is fundamental.
Notwithstanding the need for Parliament to validate the date of the THA election in 2017, the results could have been deadlocked if it had returned a 6/6 result, which of course was unlikely given the fractured nature of the opposition but not impossible. Notice that the above hypothetical scenario could not have occurred if there were an odd number of seats on offer.
This is the said problem which cropped up in the 2016 local government election in Trinidad with respect to the electoral district of Sangre Grande when there was a 4/4 tie in terms of seats won and was a source of some political upheaval and rancour.
When Mr Basdeo Panday became Prime Minister on the back of a 17/17 general election tie in Trinidad, it was the late ANR Robinson who bequeath two Tobago seats to the UNC in order to break the deadlock.
When there was the 18/18 tie in a subsequent general elections, it was the then sitting President of the Republic who chose Mr Manning over Mr Panday for Prime Minister, proffering the need for moral and spiritual values, although Mr Panday was the incumbent. This was of course when the number of seats in the Parliament of T&T was 36.
One of the greatest decisions the Elections and Boundaries Commission in T&T ever made, albeit inadvertently, was with respect to the adjustment of electoral boundaries and the concomitant increase in the number of seats on offer from the even number of 36 to the odd number of 41. It will of course become impossible for there to be any future deadlock with respect to the final results in general elections in T&T given the odd number of seats that is available.
Any marketing manager that is worth his salt knows that whenever you're listing the benefits of a new product or service, it pays to choose an odd number of benefits. There is empirical evidence that people tend to remember them more readily. Whenever a decision is to be made having an odd number always saves the day. There is magic in an odd number!
Looking ahead therefore, I think that it will benefit everyone in T&T, if the EBC should use an odd number of seats at general elections, local government elections as well as the THA elections. If this is implemented the need for jockeying for positions and brinkmanship shall not arise.
Peter Narcis,
Chaguanas