Tobago weighs options for year of elections

TOBAGONIANS are gearing up for what is expected to be a politically charged 2025, with two elections in one year.

The general election and THA elections are both constitutionally due in 2025, and the public are weighing their options and assessing performances, before heading to the polls.

Whatever their opinions of their MPs or the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Tobagonians say they will be treating each election as a separate event and it will be reflected in their votes.

The PNM currently controls central government after a 22-19 victory in the 2020 general election. The THA is managed by the Farley Augustine-led administration, with 13 of the 15 seats in the assembly.

Tobago has been an important element in the recent general elections with the winner of the two seats going on to form the government. In 2010, the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) party, under the People's Partnership (PP) coalition, won Tobago East and West, helping the PP get into office.

However, since then, the PNM has wrested control of the seats, a critical part of their path into government.

Political ambitions, grouses and opinions

Calder Hall resident and veteran journalist Dr Anthony R Hector, who unsuccessfully contested the 2021 THA elections as an independent, does not believe the PNM would keep the two seats in Tobago, currently held by Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis and Tobago East MP Ayanna Webster-Roy.

Both Webster-Roy and Cudjoe-Lewis retained their seats in the 2020 general election. The PNM has yet to call for Tobago candidates for the 2025 general election.

Webster-Roy won with 7,127 votes compared to the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke’s 5,866 votes. Cudjoe-Lewis won more comfortably with 9,275 votes, easily defeating PDP’s Tashia Grace Burris with 4,501.

Historically, Hector said, Tobago left a party in power for about two terms in the THA before the voters made a change.

“I think that Farley Augustine (THA Chief Secretary) can survive another term, even though he hasn’t been as exciting and as aggressive as he should be. But when you look at the environment and people, they are just standing by and waiting.”

Hector said the THA assemblymen tried their best with what they had, as he had seen some of the completed and ongoing infrastructure work in the island. He said they were part of a relatively new administration, so they still had to "feel-out and touch base.” Therefore, he would support Augustine and the new Tobago People Party (TPP) in the next election.

About Duke, he said at one time people were impressed with how he made a difference in the system, but Tobagonians got disappointed in him when he started to “act differently.”

“Don’t be surprised that he gets a good licking coming up.”

He added that he had not seen or heard from his MP, Cudjoe-Lewis, in a while, and, in his opinion, neither she nor Webster-Roy had been active or aggressive to show the people they should be put back in power. He said as soon as the Prime Minister announced the date of the next general election, that would change for both the candidates and the people.

Goslyn Loreine, a PNM political activist from Mason Hall, believed the PNM MPs would retain their seats.

He believed Webster-Roy was doing a “fantastic” job and he did not see anyone else meeting her standards. But, he said, both Webster-Roy and Cudjoe-Lewis were restricted by the political system in Tobago.

“Anytime an MP gets a ministry, their portfolio is mainly in Trinidad and they are accountable to the national Parliament. When they try to do something in Tobago, that falls under the THA fifth schedule; there is no way they can achieve it because there are always roadblocks, so I don’t think she can do much more.

“But in her ministry, sports particularly, I think she is doing magnificently.”

However, Loreine did not have such a high opinion of the THA. He said when the administration changed, many Tobagonians viewed it as a breath of fresh air. But now he was disappointed at the dilapidation and neglect of basic infrastructure and services he was seeing everywhere in Tobago.

While he believed the PNM would sweep Tobago in the general election, he said it may be another story for the party in the THA election as there was always a divide between the PNM and all other parties in Tobago.

“The fight will be in the THA elections. It would always be a hard fight, but I expect, because of the neglect by this assembly here, everything is falling apart under this assembly, there might be a change.

“Grudgingly, I wish them well because, if they do, Tobago benefits. But if they continue to do foolishness, Tobago will suffer.”

He said the current THA administration was poorer owing to Duke’s absence.

In the 2021 THA elections, the PDP took a 14-1 majority with PNM assemblyman Kelvon Morris being the only opposition.

However, a rift between Augustine and Duke, his party leader, resulted in a split in the party and the THA executive. Duke removed Augustine, THA Secretary of Health Dr Faith BYisrael and Alicia Roberts-Paterson as deputy political leaders of the PDP.

A few days later, Duke resigned as deputy chief secretary.

In December 2022, Augustine and 15 other members resigned from the PDP, saying they were Independents, and in August 2023, the former PDP members formed the TPP. They held internal elections on July 7 and Augustine was elected political leader, for which he ran unopposed.

Loreine said because Duke came from the trade union movement, he understood many issues the TPP members did not.

“In fact, he opened the door for them to get into politics and they are supposed to be grateful,” he said.

He recalled before Augustine was a main member of the PDP, Duke beat PNM candidate Gary Melville for the Roxborough/Delaford seat in the 2017 THA elections, so there was no reason to think Duke would not make an impact again in the THA elections.

As he would be contesting the next THA elections under his party, political leader of the Tobago Liberation Movement Anthony James, from Signal Hill, does not believe the current THA administration would remain in power.

“Tobagonians were never be in favour of any entity from Trinidad controlling them, so the PNM would not regain any office in Tobago. And the current Farley-led regime has been found, in the public domain, to be guilty of planning to betray the people of Tobago. Added to the fact there is no capacity among them to lead Tobago to freedom, it would be irresponsible to vote them back in. But if there were only the two choices, people would choose Farley and them. So Tobago needs an alternative.”

Asked about the performance of Tobago’s political leaders, he said the MPs did not have much of a role in Tobago as they did not get money to do anything since there was an administration in Tobago with local representatives.

“Any attempt to really do anything on the ground, they might be violating the responsibility of the THA.”

Regarding the THA, he said Tobago was “struggling with political intelligence.”

He said the THA failed Tobago as it was not moving the island towards “sovereign status” so it could be free to compete with other island nations. He agreed there was not enough money in the THA development budget to do projects, but he said the leaders of the THA did not have the capacity to bring Tobago to that level of autonomy.

“In Tobago we don’t reap as we sow. In Tobago, whether we sow or not, we’re going to get 4.03 per cent of the budget. It’s perhaps one of the worst measures ever instituted in TT because it has brought about a sluggishness in the leaders of Tobago. The mere fact that you don’t have to sow, but you are guaranteed a 4.03 per cent. Life doesn’t work that way.”

Giselle Hovel-Goodridge, from Bethel, said the current THA administration was a disappointment.

She said when people get power, they start off well but those good intentions eventually collapse. At some point, she said, they only helped their family and close friends.

She said her Bethel representative, Terance Baynes, was not doing anything for the village. She said youths could not get employment and people are unable to get jobs on the level of their qualifications. She said Cudjoe-Lewis has done a lot for her.

“Give me Shamfa any day, anytime. I am sorry to say that but if I go to her office or call her and speak to her, and ask for advice or help on certain things, I get good advice.

“So I don’t care what people say, they need to step down and give back Rowley a chance.”

Bad roads not being addressed

Several people in Tobago East complained bitterly about the state of the roads on that side of the island.

Hamilton Steel, of Glamorgan, said it did not matter how many times he contacted his representative or the THA to complain about the terrible condition of the roads in his area, nothing had been done.

He said the members of the THA administration did not perform well during its term. He said they said it was because of a lack of funds.

One man from Pembroke also complained about the roads in his area, saying they were never repaired and there were no new developments.

He said he had been a supporter of the current THA administration before they got into power, but he did not appreciate how he and the people of the area were being treated. He said the issues the representatives said they would address when they were trying to get elected were being ignored.

“They said when they got in power they would fix this and that, but it was only promises. But that’s how politicians operate I guess.”

He said Duke was "his boy" before, but does not believe he would get the same level of support in either the THA or general election, after the split with Augustine and the other former members of the PDP.

Vernette Muir Job, of Belle Garden, said she was not pleased with the THA’s performance as there was much to be done but no one was doing anything about it. She too complained about the state of the roads.

“They need to step up their game. Elections are coming soon and people will vote to suit. So things not going good for them at all.”

She said when she votes in the general election or the THA elections, it would not be for the PNM.

“PNM didn’t do nothing for Tobago in the nine years it in power. And the Prime Minister say he from Tobago? He has nothing positive to show that he do anything for Tobago.

“To tell you the truth, I fed up of the damn politics; because when you really check it out, who have, getting more and who don’t have, not getting anything.”

Newsday approached many other Tobagonians but they refused to speak about politics, expressing fear of discrimination or victimisation for themselves, their family members, their businesses and in their jobs.

Tobago seats crucial to general election

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath noted the importance of the two Tobago seats in the general election, saying if the PNM lost those seats but retained the other 19, it would no longer be in government. Although, he said the PNM could pick up two seats in Trinidad, which would negate the need for the Tobago seats.

“If, however, they are unable to do so and the two Tobago seats go to the TPP for instance, then the TPP could align itself with any party other than the PNM and take control of the government.

“So those two Tobago seats become very much critical for whoever is going to be in government.”

He said he could not speak to the level of support the PDP and Duke had maintained in Tobago. He knew Duke had a level of support in Tobago East but did not know if that was enough to win the seat.

He said it was also unknown if the TPP would vie for the seats. But he doubted Augustine would run as he would have to give up being Chief Secretary to contest the general election.

“I mean, for all intents and purposes, he is ‘prime minister’ in Tobago. Why would he want to be a member of the Parliament of TT? I doubt very much that he would contest the election himself.”

He said that begged the question of who in the TPP was strong enough to challenge the PDP and the PNM in Tobago.

“Importantly, we still don’t know who the official candidates of any of the parties were. We will just have to wait and see.”

In the THA, Ragoonath said the PDP and the TPP would continue to undermine each other. But the PNM was still in the game, so it may be a three-way fight in the THA elections.

“If there is a split in votes between the TPP and the PDP, there is a good likelihood that the PNM could slip through and win on a plurality. So they wouldn’t have a majority but they would have the largest of the three amount of votes.”