Trinidad and Tobago General Elections

Q: What is the law regarding the date of general elections in Trinidad and Tobago?

A: According to the Trinidad and Tobago Constitution, a normal Parliamentary term is 5 years.

68. (1) The President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may at any time prorogue or dissolve Parliament.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution, and shall then stand dissolved.

Section 68(3) allows the President to extend the term by 12-month periods for up to 5 years in times of war.

This Parliament’s first sitting was on Friday June 18, 2010 at 1:30pm. Therefore, the 5 years will end on Wednesday June 17. However, the general elections can be called at any time within three months of the dissolution of Parliament:

69. (1) A general election of members of the House of Representatives shall be held at such time within three months after every dissolution of Parliament as the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, shall appoint.

History of elections:

The People of Trinidad and Tobago voted for the first time in what could be designated a general election on Saturday 7th February, 1925.

.

Over the decades, Trinidad & Tobago was to go through several constitutional (political) developments, until the P.N.M’s coming into office in 1956. Between 1925 and 1956, there were several General Elections held: 1928, 1933, 1938, 1946 and 1950. There was supposed to have been General Elections in 1943, but it was suspended until after the War, which resulted in the General Elections of 1946.

During this period (1925 to 1950), adult franchise was granted for the 1946 General Elections, with the age of majority then being 21 years of age in order to vote. This was to be further reduced to 18 years of age with the Republican Constitution of 1976.

In the meantime, the General Elections for 1955 were constitutionally due by September, 1955. However, the Constitution Reform Committee, had by Majority Report, recommended postponement.  This postponement, with an election date to be set, had to be set officially by the Colonial Office, in London, which subsequently directed the Governor that the term of the Legislative Council be extended to for an eight-month period, operating up to the 26th May, 1956.  This meant that with the minimum four-month period for holding elections after the dissolution of the Legislative Council, would mean that elections would be held on the 26th of September, 1956.  However, because that date would occur on a mid-week day, Wednesday, and since Monday is always more convenient for elections, the date for Election Day shifted to the start of the working week of Monday the 24th of September, 1956.

Since then, the following are the dates of general elections:

1961 - General elections were held on 4 December. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 20 of the 30 seats.

1966 - General elections were held on 7 November. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 24 of the 36 seats.

1971 - General elections were held on 24 May. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won all 36 seats.

1976 - General elections were held on 13 September. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 24 of the 36 seats. 

1981 - General elections were held on 9 November. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 26 of the 36 seats

1986 - General elections were held on 15 December. The result was a victory for the NAR, which won 33 of the 36 seats.

1991 - General elections were held on 16 December. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 21 of the 36 seats

1995 - Early general elections were held on 6 November after the ruling PNM had seen its majority reduced to a single seat due to a defection and a lost by-election. The results saw the PNM and the UNC both won 17 seats. Although they had received fewer votes, the UNC was able to form a coalition with the two-seat National Alliance for Reconstruction, allowing UNC leader, Basdeo Panday, to become the country's first Indo-Trinidadian Prime Minister.

2000 - General elections were held on 11 December. The result was a victory for the UNC, which won 19 of the 36 seats. 

2001 - Early general elections were held on 10 December, after the ruling UNC lost its majority in the House of Representatives following four defections. However, the election results saw the UNC and the PNM both win 18 seats. Although the UNC received the most votes, President A. N. R. Robinson nominated PNM leader Patrick Manning as Prime Minister.

2002 - Early general elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 7 October, after PNM leader, Patrick Manning, had failed to secure a majority in the hung parliament produced by the 2001 elections. This time the PNM was able to secure a majority, winning 20 of the 36 seats.

2007 - General elections were held on 5 November. The PNM party under the leadership of Patrick Manning won 26 of the 41 seats in Parliament. The UNC-A, under the leadership of Basdeo Panday won the 15 remaining seats. The COP did not win any seats

2010 - A general election was held on May 24. The date of the general elections was announced by Prime Minister Patrick Manning on April 16, 2010, via a press release. The election was called over two years earlier than required by law. Polls showing that the UNC-led opposition coalition was likely to win the election were confirmed by the subsequent results.

The final outcome has the People's Partnership winning 29 seats, and the PNM winning 12 seats. As a consequence of the People's Partnership's win, Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the People's Partnership coalition was elected Trinidad and Tobago's first female Prime Minister.

2015 – General elections were held on 7 September. The result was a victory for the PNM, which won 23 of the 41 seats.

2020 - General elections are carded for Monday 10th August 2020.

T&T government picking Ministers out of a hat

Allow me to to take a break from legal rights to indulge in some politics and give my view on the recent reshuffle.

“This is not a fete in here, this is madness!” The lyrics from David Rudder’s 1987 road-march runner-up entitled “Madness” is the most apropos encapsulation of what happened last Monday night when the Prime Minister made a myriad of changes to her Cabinet for the fourth time since winning the 2010 election. For those of you who’ve lost count, we’ve witnessed the removal of eighteen Ministers and a few other non-cabinet appointments during this administration, but none more drastic than the last few. Judging from the comments of political analysts, columnists and callers to various talk-programmes, the entire country was shocked by some of the “resignations” and dismissals, but the appointments left me even more bewildered. Clearly, anyone with a pulse has an opportunity to be appointed as Minister of, or Minister in a Ministry under the PP government.

The PP’s farcical selection method for Ministers is the main reason for the government’s constant failure. This administration has put a calypsonian as the Minister of Arts and Culture, a trade union militant as Minister of Labour, a television presenter as Minister of Sport, a gynaecologist as Minister of Education, and a dj has had the most varied experience as Minister of Public Utilities, Works, National Security, and then Justice. Although my focus is on Ministers, I must mention the most ridiculous appointment of all, which involves a woman with a basic information technology certificate being made the Director of the Security Intelligence Agency.

Despite this, the incongruous appointments continue with the new Sport and National Security Ministers. Firstly, the PM’s initial appointment of “Brent Sanko” [sic] makes me wonder how much was known about this man besides what was pulled from Wikipedia; and secondly, how does being an average (at best) footballer qualify a man to oversee all sports in a country? Yes, he was the only Soca Warrior to score a goal at the 2006 World Cup, but even then he didn’t know what he was doing because he actually scored for Paraguay instead. For copious reasons (which I won’t get into here), comparisons to the PNM’s 1991 appointment of Eugenia “Jean” Pierre would be illogical -- 20 years removed.

Then, we have an elderly soldier as the 5th Minister of National Security, in as many years. Carlton Alfonso has been given a job at an age above the highest retirement age in the world. And what ever happened to “learning from your mistakes”? The PP has tried three soldiers and yet (arguably), the most effective period in crime-fighting was when a FIFA executive was at the helm. We had a glimpse of a soldier’s mentality from speed-talker, Gary Griffith, when he advocated for more citizens to be armed, in order to bring a “sense of security”, and then the importation of armoured personnel carriers. Had he made a more sagacious investment, last week’s fiery domestic violence tragedy would not have happened because the Brasso Police Post would’ve had a vehicle to respond to the victim’s calls.

The government needs to start treating a Ministerial appointment like a real job as opposed to “ah wuk”, and the PM needs to understand that her role is similar to that of a Human Resource Manager in this regard. As the HR Manager, proper recruitment procedure should be followed; i.e., identify, interview, investigate, and offer (if suitable). Many are called, but few are chosen and this is what the choosing of Ministers should entail. I was seriously perturbed to hear Brent Sancho admit that he was vacationing in New York when he received a random call offering the ministerial appointment. Is that all that goes into selecting someone for a position in our parliament -- a long-distance phone call?

A Minister has the same responsibility as a CEO of a company; therefore, diversity of knowledge and the ability to lead are most vital. Knowledge of a single area (the army or football) is almost irrelevant in a multi-faceted government ministry. CEOs focus on developing and implementing high-level strategies and making major policy decisions; which is exactly what government ministers are required to do. Are these skills that a soldier and a footballer would’ve acquired before appointment? Or are we hoping for on-the-job-training?

As someone said, the next reshuffle might see “Saucy Pow” as Minister of Gender Affairs, Machel Montano as Minister of Road (and Works), and Lurbz may get the call for Minister of Affairs. With this government, I feel like we’re playing football and we keep bringing on players in the 89^th minute just to give them an opportunity to play for the final sixty seconds. Back in my school days, we called that a “corbeau-sweat” (pronounced “cobo”). Coach PM is giving everybody “ah sweat”, so let’s see who’s coming off the bench next!

Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet: Sworn in on 28-05-2010

After her landslide victory on May 24th, Trinidad and Tobago's First Female Prime Minister has selected her new cabinet of Ministers.


Prime Minister and Minister of Information and Communication – Kamla Persad Bissessar

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan

Minister of Finance- Winston Dookeran

Minister of Works and Transport –Austin Jack Warner

Minister of Education – Dr. Tim Goopeesingh

Minister of Justice – Hubert Volney

Minister of Legal Affairs – Prakash Ramadhar

Minister of Labour, Small and Macro Enterprise Development – Errol Mcleod

Minister of Housing and Environment –Dr. Roodial Moonilal

Minister of Trade and Industry – Stephen Cadiz

Minister of Arts and Culture – Winston Peters

Minister of National Security – Brigadier John Sandy

Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs – Carolyn Seepersad Bachan

Minister of Foreign Affairs – Surujrattan Rambachan

Minister of Public Administration – Nan Ramgoolam

Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education – Fazal Karim

Minister of Public Utilities – Emmanuel George

Minister of Health – Teres Baptiste Cornelius

Minister of Food Production, Lands and Marine Affairs – Vasant Bharath

Minister of Planning, Economic Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs – Mary King

Minister of Local Government - Chandresh Sharma

Minister of Tourism – Dr. Rupert Griffith

Minister of Peoples and Social Development – Dr. Glen Ramdharsingh

Minister of Community Development – Nizam Baksh

Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs – Anil Roberts

Minister of Tobago Development – Vernalla Alleyne Toppin