Charles unfazed, proud of 'clean' campaign

Incumbent PNM political leader Kelvin Charles speaks to the media after voting at the Bethesda Multipurpose Facility on Sunday. PHOTO BY KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY  - KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY
Incumbent PNM political leader Kelvin Charles speaks to the media after voting at the Bethesda Multipurpose Facility on Sunday. PHOTO BY KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY - KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

Chief Secretary and incumbent PNM political leader, Kelvin Charles is confident he will emerge with the most votes in the election runoff when the count of ballots begins on Sunday evening.

Speaking to the media about his chances as he exited the polling station at the Bethesda Multipurpose Facility, Plymouth on Sunday morning, Charles coolly said, “No way different than on the last occasion.”

Last Sunday Charles earned the most votes (1,513) in the PNM internal election, bettering Tracy Davidson-Celestine (1,447), Deputy Chief Secretary Joel Jack (1,066) and former THA presiding officer Dr Denise Tsoiafatt Angus (904). Charles' final tally was insufficient for a mandate, triggering a runoff to decide the leader.

Since then, however, Jack and Tsoiafatt Angus have thrown their support behind Davidson-Celestine and publicly endorsed her as the next leader of the party.

Charles was unfazed on Sunday.

“I am as confident as I was last week and of course at the end of the day, this would be a victory for the people and it would be a victory for the man above because I continue to do what he has destined me to do.”

He added: “In 2016, we had a runoff as well, so it's not my first experience. We have striven to keep it clean as we did in 2016, knowing as we did then, as we do now, that somebody will have the responsibility to pick up the pieces.

"So, we continue to do that... I have always said that how you campaign is how you would govern, so we maintained a clean approach to the campaign.”

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"Charles unfazed, proud of 'clean' campaign"

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