TPP to reveal Tobago West candidate at March 23 special convention

ALL EYES will be on the Tobago People's Party's (TPP) special convention on March 23 as the party reveals its Tobago West candidate for the April 28 general election.

The event is being held at Rovanel's Resort, Store Bay Local Road, Bon Accord, from 4 pm.

The PNM's Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis and Ayanna Webster-Roy have been the MPs for the Tobago West and East seas, respectively, for the past ten years.

The TPP, led by Farley Augustine, is among seven political parties hoping to wrest control of the seats, which many believe are crucial to the outcome of the general election.

The party, which was launched officially in August 2023, held a marathon screening of candidates on February 6 for the general election at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex.

Eight people were screened for Tobago East and two, including Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor Janes, for Tobago West.

Four days later, on February 10, retired assistant fire chief David Thomas was announced as the candidate for Tobago East.

The TPP's screening committee announced in a media release on March 16 that it had been directed by the party's executive to “consider additional prospects” for the Tobago West constituency.

This Led to speculation that the committee had essentially rejected both James and the other nominee, public servant Barry Nelson. But in a television interview last week, TPP chairman Ann Natasha Second, who was a nominee for the Tobago East seat, said this was not the case.

“Some persons may think that the two candidates who would have been nominees before for that position were rejected. Both of them remain in the pool,” she said. “The executive simply mandated the political leader, based on different discussions with the action groups in the west council and all of the action groups in the West would weigh in and support the screening committee and the political leader in this election. So it was simply mandated to add or to increase the number of proposed candidates. That whole screening process has continued and on Sunday, we will declare both candidates and present them.”

Second said the TPP's general election campaign will be launched officially at the convention.

“We are fully prepared. We want to present all aspects of the party and of the campaign so that they understand they can trust us and they can be comfortable to know that we are able to deliver a full blown election in this short and very heated season.” She said Augustine, the Chief Secretary, will be the main speaker.

“A lot of people will be looking to see what he has to say about the disrespect that was levied against all of Tobago during the opening of the new airport when the chief secretary and no member of the assembly was allowed to speak and they way they behaved, the laughter, the cajoling, blatant disrespect. So we are waiting to hear the political leader, who is the sitting chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, what he is going to bring to the table to explain to Tobago about that context of disrespect.“

Second said representatives from all of the TPP's various arms will be attending.

Last week, Augustine said the party was ready for the election.