Analyst: Tobago voted for accountability

THE PNM’s loss of its 10/2 majority on the Tobago House of Assembly to go a six-six tie in Monday’s elections was large due to Tobagonians calling for accountability and also expressing their distaste at the party’s shoddy treatment of its former chief secretary Kevin Charles. That was the verdict of political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath.

He told Newsday on Tuesday, “Notwithstanding all the PNM would have done for Tobago in terms of building infrastructure, putting in new ferries and all those sort of things, why would the people of Tobago still decide to vote against the PNM?

"I’m suggesting it is a matter of ‘government’ versus ‘governance.’”

Ragoonath said the PNM has promoted good government in Tobago by way of providing services and infrastructure for citizens, but in so doing was missing the point on governance.

“The governance part of it would relate to their ability to provide accountability, transparency, the things people look for but don’t really see in material ways in the way they would see for government.

“That is the context in which I think the campaign was launched. The PDP was literally telling the people, ‘Look, we are going to try to bring back at least some degree of accountability. We’ll provide some sort of accountability and transparency in how we manage the affairs of the THA, so it’s not simply a matter of throwing good money behind bad.’”

Ragoonath said this was all put into context by the Prime Minister's statement at a PNM rally in Roxborough.

“He said, 'When the PNM wins the next THA election, the first project we are going to make sure and finish it is the zipline project," notwithstanding the fact that he made no mention of whether or not anyone was going to be held accountable for the initial $3.5 million or whatever that was already spent on it. He made no mention. All he was concerned with was that 'we are going to complete the project.'

“That suggests there was little or no accountability that he was demanding of his PNM. That’s the context in which I talk of governance as opposed to government.”

He said people voted to indicate that not only do they want services but also governance.

Was Tobago Council leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine (who was linked to the zipline) to blame for the PNM’s loss of a majority, or had her position been supported by Dr Rowley's saying she must become THA head and complete the project?

“I think the blame goes to the party as a whole,” Ragoonath replied. “You have to look at how the PNM ran this whole election.

"In the first instance the way they treated Kelvin Charles as a former chief secretary. That in itself...left a bad taste in the minds of many Tobagonians: the way they literally forced him out of the role of chief secretary. They had brought a motion of no-confidence against him where they were willing to vote against him. He was literally forced out of the chief secretary’s office.

“People in Tobago, looking on at how the PNM treated one of their own, decided to act.”

Ragoonath said he would not fully blame Davidson-Celestine, as Tobago Council head, for Charles's being pushed out of office.

“I think it was more that the hierarchy of the party, the leadership of the party, would have taken that position and allowed it to evolve into what it turned out to be.”

Since Davidson-Celestine had not been an elected THA member at that time, she could not have been the one to bring the no-confidence motion against Charles. Rather, Ragoonath blamed the party leadership and the PNM THA members.

“She was not there, You can’t say she was directly responsible. Yes, she could probably have instigated it, a la Donald Trump (with respect to the Capitol incursions), but the point is that she was not there.”

Ragoonath said despite all this, the PNM seems to have kept its core support base, as suggested by preliminary data on voter turnout, which stayed within the normal trends.

Given the PNM’s retention of the two Tobago parliamentary seats in last August’s general election, and its loss of a majority at the THA now some six months later, the question arises of whether Monday’s results were due to any wider national dissatisfaction, apart from accountability and Kelvin Charles’ dismissal.

Ragoonath replied, “I’m not sure that there’s anything at the national level. I’m saying that because the voter participation numbers from the preliminary figures last night would suggest voting trends remain stable. If trends remain stable, this would suggest it is not a matter of any national issues going in there.”

He noted concerns about the PNM’s campaign trying to allege a union between the PDP and UNC, but he was unsure if that had succeeded.