bavita.gopaulchan@guardian.co.tt
Defeated People’s National Movement candidate for Buccoo/Mt Pleasant, outgoing Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis, has accepted the decision by residents of the area for change.
He is adamant, however, that his campaign was strong and that his track record speaks for itself, affirming that there’s nothing different he would have done.
While he believes he has done his best to serve the people of Buccoo/Mt Pleasant, Dennis said yesterday he will be doing a post-mortem on his performance and campaign.
Guardian Media spoke to residents within the Buccoo/Mt Pleasant district yesterday on their views of Monday night’s THA election results.
Some residents felt Dennis was an unfortunate victim to the current displeasure for the PNM Tobago Council leadership.
However, Dennis told Guardian Media that while it is clear that Tobagonians voted based on party, political leader of the PNM’s Tobago Council Tracy Davidson-Celestine was unfairly targeted.
“To me, it is about incumbency. After being there for over 20 years, it is not going to be in the favour of any incumbent party,” Dennis said.
He added, “People are free to have their opinions. I think personally, a con job was done on Ms Celestine since last December before the January 2021 election. It is quite unfortunate that the zipline project was used in a way to destroy her reputation and character. From my acute knowledge of the zipline project, Tracy Davidson-Celestine did nothing wrong, corrupt or anything that warrants the kind of ridicule or attacks that transpired. That is just politics and we all know perception is reality.”
Although he did not go into detail, Dennis said there is now work for the party to do.
Some residents felt that Dennis’ position as Chief Secretary took away from his presence in the communities.
Dennis admitted his plate was full governing the island but did not believe it took away from his work on the ground.
“Managing the island as Chief Secretary has been quite a challenge. It is a tall order but I still feel notwithstanding that, I managed to get time to render assistance to my constituents in every instance. So yes, being Chief Secretary was difficult but I am not going to use that as any excuse. I think I was able to still deliver,” he said.
However, Dennis said his political career is far from over and committed to continue building with the PNM.