Morris: No one person to blame for PNM defeat

Minority Leader Kelvon Morris says no one person should be blamed for the People’s National Movement's 14-1 defeat to the Progressive Democratic Patriots in the December 6, 2021 THA election.

Morris made the statement last Thursday as he spoke to reporters.

He said, “I don’t think there is one reason that could point to why we were so resoundingly rejected by the Tobago population.

“There is the factor of just being in government for over 20 years and we were in a holdover period for an additional nine to ten months. You know, over time in governance you will disappoint people and there is something called total utility in economics and the more you eat of it, the less satisfaction you get from it. So, the longer the PNM stayed in governance, it is the less appreciation people got of what PNM was serving them.”

He added: “You have the people that felt, in some instances, that they needed to see representatives. We were in a period of a pandemic where – through no fault of the government – places had to be shutdown, persons were losing employment, and persons obviously would look to the government for that kind of support."

Morris acknowledged that some people felt that government support wasn’t coming fast enough.

"So, there is a number of situations and I don’t think any one thing or any one person should be held accountable for the outcome of the elections on December 6.”

He was also questioned about the statement by the Tobago Council leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine that former THA chief secretary Ancil Dennis erred in his decision to not begin new projects after the six-six tie in the January 25, 2021 THA election.

“Truthfully, I prefer not to comment on the views of the political leader. I mean, they sit at different positions, so they would have a different kind of understanding but for me, the focus of this minority council right now is to press the rest button and to really move on a new frontier, a new approach to how both the PNM and the minority council on a whole goes about the business of politics.

"We are not here to really deal with the tit-for-tat and that kind of things, we are here to ensure that the people of Tobago who are really suffering can really get a voice that would really reach their needs and treat with their needs. We are really about dealing with people, and we are not dealing with bacchanal.”