Kamla’s comeback

ON APRIL 26, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 73, was apologising contritely for her mistakes, addressing rumours about her health and concerns about her age as she sought to convince the country to give her another chance as prime minister.

But by 10 o’clock on election night, she had staged one of the biggest comebacks of any figure in this country’s political history.

Ms Persad-Bissessar, who led Cabinet from 2010 to 2015, returns to power after almost a decade – the longest intervening period between non-consecutive prime ministerial tenures. Her return undergirds her status as the country’s first and, to date, only female PM.

The dramatic outcome was the final punctuation mark in what was, by any standard, an extraordinary general election campaign premised on narratives.

Earlier in the day, under blazing sun and clear blue skies, hundreds of thousands turned out to mark ballots on April 28.

Across the country, in schools and in community centres, in quiet towns and in bustling urban centres, voters turned out in droves, some 18-year-old first-timers, others 96-year-old veterans, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, some enduring long lines, others flowing through polling stations with ease.

One thing united all: faith in democracy.

Initially, the UNC had raised a barrage of complaints about the EBC. But by day’s end, their many letters were forgotten amid celebration.

The outcome of the process was as astonishing as the process itself. Polls and pundits had suggested a close race. Yet, the preliminary results suggested the first-past-the-post system delivered an unequivocal outcome: the UNC held on to its seats and, furthermore, turned several red areas yellow. The Tobago seats went to the TPP. Both parties are potentially poised to enact special-majority legislation.

It was a bitter result for Stuart Young and the PNM. The party saw its seat tally collapse to one of its lowest ever, even seemingly lower than the number of seats won after Patrick Manning’s disastrous snap election of 1995.

For Dr Keith Rowley, it was also a stinging coda to a political career that had appeared, in more recent years, unassailable. His choice of a successor in Mr Young was repudiated; the decision to effect a constitutional transfer of power before the poll would now seem to be a gambit that backfired.

Despite the outgoing PM’s hinting that he intends to keep a leading role in the party, the post of Opposition Leader is up for grabs.

Ms Persad-Bissessar’s return evokes comparisons with Donald Trump. Like him, she maintained a hold on her party while in opposition and in the face of many party members who wanted her replaced.

Perhaps for her resilience, a majority of voters have decided to give her a second chance.