DR HAMID GHANY

Now that the pol­i­tics of the coun­try has once again moved to a three-way split, one can re­call the gen­er­al elec­tions of 1981, 1991, 1995 and 2007, in which the prime ben­e­fi­cia­ry on three oc­ca­sions was the PNM. The 1981 gen­er­al elec­tion fea­tured the PNM, the ULF and the DAC as the par­ties that ac­tu­al­ly won seats, but there was al­so the ONR, which fin­ished sec­ond in the over­all vote count and it won no seats.

The break­down in that gen­er­al elec­tion was that the PNM won 26 of 36 seats with 52.9 per cent of the vote, the ONR won no seats with 22.2 per cent of the vote, the ULF won eight of the 36 seats with 15.2 per cent of the vote, and the DAC won two of the 36 seats with 3.7 per cent of the vote.

The out­come of this elec­tion re­opened a pub­lic de­bate about the need for some kind of pro­por­tion­al rep­re­sen­ta­tion be­cause of the fact that the wish­es of the sec­ond largest group of vot­ers were not re­ward­ed by the first past-the-post sys­tem. That is a de­bate that has con­tin­ued to the present day in one form or an­oth­er.In 1974, the Wood­ing Con­sti­tu­tion Com­mis­sion had pro­posed a mixed sys­tem of pro­por­tion­al rep­re­sen­ta­tion and the first past-the-post sys­tem for elec­tions to the na­tion­al Par­lia­ment.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/dig­i­tal/new-mem­bers