PNM fends off UNC grab for San Fernando, Tunapuna/Piarco corporations

THE UNC's bid to wrest the San Fernando City Corporation and the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation from the PNM crashed on Wednesday when no major changes occurred after recounts of the preliminary results of last Monday's local government election done by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

The UNC had challenged the preliminary results in one San Fernando seat where the PNM had launched two requests for recounts, while in Tunapuna/Piarco the UNC had sought recounts in four seats, among other challenges nationwide. The EBC issued two statements on recount results.

For San Fernando the first indication the PNM would retain the corporation came at 9.54 am in an EBC statement giving recount results for three seats, which most critically scotched the UNC's bid to tilt the balance of power by snatching an extra seat to increase its tally to a majority from its four seats out of nine won on election night. Incumbent PNM councillor Teresa Lynch in the Cocoyea/Tarouba seat fended off a challenge by the UNC's Shane Samlal who gained one vote in the recount.

The result was PNM 1,207 votes to the UNC's 1,162 votes, a 45 vote margin by Newsday's count.

The UNC for its part had to defend itself from PNM recount challenges to two UNC victories in San Fernando, namely in Marabella West won at the preliminary count by John Michael "Makamillion" Ali Bocas and in Marabella South/Vistabella won by Sasha Ali.

The EBC's morning statement said the EBC recount confirmed Ali as winner. She had unseated former UNC councillor Marcus Girdharrie who had defected to become the PNM candidate. The recount result was UNC 884 to the PNM's 873, with the UNC having lost one vote.

Up to press time on Wednesday no result was forthcoming for Ali Bocas who had told Newsday on Tuesday how confident he was of a win in the recount, given his 29 vote majority in the preliminary result, winning 956 votes to the PNM's Jameela Marryshaw-St Hill's tally of 927.

In a pivotal result, the final result showed that Lynch increased her tally from 1,077 votes in 2019 to 1,207 votes in 2023, while the UNC vote increased from 1,047 to 1,162 over the same period. Both candidates in Cocoyea/Tarouba seat bucked a national trend of a lower turnout relative to 2019.

Lynch told Newsday how hard she hard worked to canvass her electoral district, which she described as the corporation's largest which held one of the country's most diverse electorates. Lynch now enters her third term, in the seat once held by her father Leslie Lynch.

She said,"It was not nerve-wrecking because, for the most part, the win was sure for me. I was just waiting for the due process to take place.

"I am looking forward to continuing to serve the people."

The first EBC recount statement also said that in the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation, the PNM's Ryan Stewart was confirmed in his win in Mayaro North over the UNC's Kristen Townsand. The recount put the PNM tally at 741 votes ahead of the UNC on 720 and the PEP on 43. The recount saw the PNM lose one vote and the UNC lose two votes. Interestingly the PNM's margin of victory over the UNC was less than the tally earned by the third party, the PEP.

The EBC statement said it was continuing to carry out recounts in the 11 other electoral districts for which losing candidates had made an appeal.

By 6.04 pm, the EBC sent a second statement to media houses which results that dashed the UNC's hopes of grabbing Tunapuna/Piarco.

On Monday night the preliminary results had repeated the 2019 local government election results to see the UNC win five seats on the 16 member corporation. At that the UNC launched its bid for a majority on the council by requesting recounts in a bid to gain four more seats and so potentially get nine seats in all, but this was not to be.

The EBC's second statement gave figures to say the UNC had been unsuccessful in three of the four seats, scotching the party's need to win all four to capture the council. In Auzonville/Tunapuna, the EBC said the PNM candidate (John-Boyd Briggs) won 1,708 votes, to the UNC candidate (Meguel Latchman's) on 1,542 votes, the latter getting one more vote in the recount.

At Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa the PNM candidate Sheldon Moore tallied 1,477 votes to the UNC's Cherrise Smith on 1,391 votes and independent candidate Kathleen Washington getting 55 votes, with no changes to any preliminary result.

In Five Rivers the recount result saw the PNM get 2,116 votes ahead of the UNC's 2,060. The EBC said, "The PNM candidate Desiree De Freitas received four more votes. The UNC candidate Jamie Hosein lost three votes."

At press time, recount results were still outstanding for the Maracas/Santa Margarita seat at the Tunapuna/Piarco corporation.

Highly interesting results were seen elsewhere in the EBC's evening press release.

Firstly, the PNM's hopes of making inroads into the Princes Town Regional Corporation were left hanging by a thread. On election night the Prime Minister had enthusiastically welcomed the preliminary result of the PNM winning a seat on the council which in 2019 the UNC had made a clean sweep of by taking all ten seats.

However the recount left these aspirations in the balance, by a most unlikely outcome, that is a tie.

"In the electoral district of Lengua/Indian Walk, a count of the ballot boxes has revealed a tie, with both the PNM and UNC candidates securing 1,428 votes each - a loss of two votes for the PNM’s candidate and a gain of three votes for the UNC’s candidate." The vote count for the PEP’s candidate remained the same at 87 votes.

"The recount of the poll card boxes in this electoral district is still ongoing," the EBC said.

Interesting this result indicated a trend seen in the three remaining seats whose recount result was reported last evening by the EBC, namely the potential spoiler effect of third party candidates. Clearly at Lengua/Indian Walk, the PEP tally could have titled the tied seat either to the UNC or the PNM.

At Arima West/O'Meara at the Arima Borough Council the recount result was PNM 646 votes, UNC 603 votes and PEP 78 votes, the PEP vote exceeding the PNM's margin over the UNC.

At Sangre Grande Northeast seat at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, the revised result was PNM 1,420 votes, UNC 1,405 votes and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) 52 votes, a third party's tally again exceeding the victory margin. The EBC said the PNM had lost four votes and the UNC lost seven votes in the recount.

At San Juan East in the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation, the recount results were PNM 1,361, UNC 1,300 and PEP 129, yet again the third party vote exceeding the victory margin. The recount gave the PNM one extra vote.

Otherwise the EBC statement said that in the Bagatelle/Blue Basin seat in the Diego Martin Borough Corporation, the UNC candidate called off her recount request, with the PNM candidate winning by a margin of 220 votes.