BYisrael: THA elections only when they are due

The THA (Tobago House of Assembly) elections will be called when they are constitutionally due.

THA Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael addressed this issue on Tobago Channel Five’s morning show Rise and Shine on Tuesday.

Recently, the Prime Minister called on THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine to call fresh THA elections after allegedly having lost his moral mandate to govern when he left the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) party, headed by Watson Duke, after being elected to the THA.

BYisrael said, “The THA elections would be called when they are constitutionally due.

"May I also add that there are constitutionally due local government elections in Trinidad, so if the Prime Minister wants to speak about calling elections, maybe we should speak about calling those elections that have been constitutionally due, but (which) he is refusing to call.”

BYisrael, an ordinary member of the new Tobago People's Party (TPP), said the only decision made to date on the party executive is that Augustine will serve as interim political leader.

“The constitution is what would then tell you which officers you need, because what we did is have people look at all the different constitutions for political parties; there are variations of them. And then we would have to decide which ones we need.

"We may end up with a chairman, vice chair, and then when we agree that these are the positions that would make up the executive of the party, based on the constitution, then we may have the elections. Or we may have an interim as we go forward, as we continue to build.”

Genesis of the TPP

The Watson Duke-led PDP scored an overwhelming 14-1 victory over the PNM in the December 6, 2021, THA election.

But eight months later, Duke accused the administration of failing to assist a Roxborough cultural group who had gone to New York to perform. He later fired Augustine, BYisrael and Alicia Roberts-Patterson as deputy leaders. He also resigned as Deputy Chief Secretary of the THA. He was replaced by BYisrael.

All 13 PDP executive members resigned from the party on December 5, and declared themselves independents.

After two public meetings, the 13 independents met with supporters at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex to discuss the formation of a new party. Augustine told reporters he was confident Tobago could build a political organisation that was truly responsive to the island’s needs and wants.

On April 17, the team met and agreed on the name. Interim leader Augustine said the TPP would be registered with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

In an update, BYisrael said it is yet to be registered with the EBC.

“It is forming. It has not been registered with EBC yet because we’re doing all of these things (getting a colour and symbol) from the ground up.”

She added: “We have a draft constitution that a couple people are also looking at. So when all of that is put together, then we would go to EBC and say this is what we are registering as the organisation.”