Duke urges Tobago: Erase PNM, vote TPP

VIDIA RAMPHAL

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke has shed more light on his decision to sit out the 2026 Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections.

On December 8, Duke announced that his PDP would not contest the January 12 election and threw his support behind the ruling Tobago People’s Party (TPP).

He expanded on his decision on December 28 in a social media post, saying that a TPP victory would prove that the People’s National Movement has no future as a governing force on the island.

Duke framed his support for Augustine’s TPP not as a concession, but as a calculated strike to prevent the PNM from returning to power.

“I have advised the PDP to take a strategic and mature position in the 2026 THA elections by supporting the TPP,” Duke wrote.

“The TPP emerged from the same political struggle that challenged and dismantled PNM control. While operating under a different banner, it represents continuity in purpose and direction,” he added.

Duke highlighted the PDP’s role in dismantling the PNM’s decades-long “invincibility” in Tobago politics.

He said before the rise of the PDP, the PNM dominated the landscape of Tobago politics.

Duke noted that several other parties like the Democratic Action Congress (DAC), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and others, were “erased from the political landscape,” rendering Tobago politics “predictable, closed, and controlled.”

Duke said the PDP broke the pattern after its formation in 2015, rising to defeat the PNM 14-1 in the December 2021 THA elections.

"That result stands as the worst loss the PNM has experienced in any election (national or local) from 1956 to the present,” he wrote.

“It was not a fluke. It was the result of years of groundwork, sacrifice, and a clear 'Tobago Must Win' vision."

Glossing over the formation of the TPP in August 2023, after Duke dramatically fell out with members of his party, including Chief Secretary Farley Auguustine, the PDP leader went on to characterise the next poll as critical in the island’s history.

Duke said the upcoming elections would be the arena to deliver a decisive blow to the PNM’s political relevance on the island.

“A successive defeat of the PNM, first by the PDP in December 2021, and now by the TPP in its first THA election, would confirm beyond any doubt that the PNM has no future as a governing force in Tobago,” he said.

Duke explained that the significance of the 2026 polls was the reason he urged his supporters and activists to “put aside past differences, misunderstandings, or personal grievances” and throw their support behind the TPP.

“This moment is bigger than internal politics. It is about what is best for Tobago,” Duke said.

The PDP leader characterised the PNM as an “outsider party,” adding that it has historically neglected the island’s specific needs in pursuit of national agendas.

“The objective is clear: to prevent the return of an outsider party (PNM) that has consistently failed to put Tobago’s interests first and has treated Tobago as an extension of national political priorities rather than a people with their own identity, needs, and future,” Duke wrote.

Insisting that personal ambition must take a backseat to the greater good, Duke emphasised that his decision was a necessary act of political maturity.

“This election is not about rivalry or ego. It is about completing a process that began in 2015 and ensuring that Tobago’s political destiny remains firmly in Tobagonian hands,” he wrote.

Since his initial announcement that the PDP would not contest the THA elections, several commentators have raised doubts over whether the party would have been able to contest the election effectively.

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath told Newsday that he did not think other parties contesting the elections had a significant chance of winning seats.

In addition, TPP leader Augustine, while welcoming the support from Duke, announced there would be no coalition or partnership between the parties.

Reactions to Duke’s announcement on social media have been mixed.

Duke's PDP unsuccessfully contested the April 28 general election. The TPP, in its maiden election, won the Tobago West and East seats from the PNM.

While Duke has framed his exit as a strategic move to secure Tobago’s political destiny, the electorate will be the final arbiter.