Soon after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday called for elections “now”, she got her wish when Government announced the Local Government Elections date as December 2.
The announcement came as Persad-Bissessar was delivering her reply to Government’s 2020 Budget in Parliament.
In the fifth paragraph of her 94-page reply she’d said since Prime Minister Keith Rowley couldn’t do the “job” of governing.
“Don’t make excuses. Call elections now!” she added.
Persad-Bissessar had detailed her party’s general election offering.
However about an hour after she made her election call - as she was stating UNC’s plans for government next term - the Prime Minister’s Office announced the Local Government date would be December 2 and the election writs would be issued (by the Elections and Boundaries Commission) in “due course.
After that, in concluding her address in Parliament, Persad-Bissessar, whose printed speech was scheduled to end with again calling for elections, amended this to say:
“Once more, I call upon the Prime Minister to call the general election now! And not ‘braksing’ by calling the Local Government election. We’ll meet and beat you at the polls on December 2. We don’t need a $5 light bulb to show us that. Bring it on! The UNC is ready to transform and resurrect T&T.”
During the lunch break, Leader of Government Lower House business Camille Robinson-Regis said, “We’re (PNM) ready for the polls, we’ve screened our candidates and put them in the field, some since July. We only have two in South that haven’t been done, but we’re ready!”
PNM’s Local Government campaign will be launched November 10 at the Queen’s Park Savannah during its annual convention.
Robinson-Regis, however, confirmed Parliament still had to debate the EBC draft order on local boundary recommendations. This was completed in 2017 but only laid in Parliament in April. It involved changes to boundaries, area names and addition of two seats in 12 districts in three PNM and four UNC corporations.
The government initially planned to do the EBC order after Monday’s Budget delivery, but the Opposition objected and it wasn’t done.
Robinson-Regis said it would have been done last night.
“There’s no deadline but the election writs must be done before the poll so the order must be passed as we have to know what boundaries we’re working with. We’ll do it, later (last night).”
On whether it could be done in the middle of Budget debate, she said the past Government in 2014 Budget debate set the agenda for the Standing Finance Committee meeting and “Next day they brought the Anti Terrorism bill debate: So there’s precedent for (doing the EBC order now).”
She said Government had notified the Opposition of debate on the EBC order but didn’t know if they’d participate. The order required simple majority votes and could be passed by Government alone without Opposition support.
PNM PRO Laurel Lezama-Lee Sing said PNM’s last two candidates to be finalised - for Marabella and a Les Efforts seat - will be completed early next week.
UNC’s secretariat said candidates have been selected for all areas save certain parts of Sangre Grande and Mayaro. The latter includes the seat of embattled Mayaro chairman Glen Ram who was charged with alleged corruption recently. UNC’s campaign launch date hasn’t been decided yet.
Yesterday chairmen of UNC- held corporations - including Ram - attended Parliament to hear Persad- Bissessar’s Budget reply.
The Movement for Social Justice has candidates for Siparia, Point Fortin, Diego Martin, Laventille/San Juan and is finalising others, said MSJ leader David Abdulah, “But the Prime Minister ‘s brief release on the election date shows the disregard the PNM has for Local Government particularly since they proposed Local Government reform and this will be the second election in which reform isn’t yet completed - clear failure to empower people,”
Ex-PNM member Louis Lee Sing says he’s launching his Port-of-Spain Peoples’ Movement (PPM) party on October 23 in Woodbrook. Twelve candidates, former PoS councillors, are contesting in PoS alone. His symbol finalised by EBC yesterday involves “PPM”. His office is at Tragarete Road.
COP leader Carolyn Seepersad- Bachan whose party’s contesting only in Piarco corporation, said candidates have questions on what Local Government reform would involve before they commit to contesting.