{"id":6547,"date":"2020-08-11T10:13:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T14:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/?p=6547"},"modified":"2020-08-11T10:13:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T14:13:00","slug":"trinidad-opposition-to-contest-election-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/11\/trinidad-opposition-to-contest-election-result\/","title":{"rendered":"Trinidad Opposition To Contest Election Result"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PORT OF SPAIN,\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago\u00a0(AFP) \u2014 Trinidad\u00a0and Tobago’s ruling People’s National Movement party has declared victory in a close-run general election where it lost a seat to the opposition, which has said it will contest the result.<\/p>\n

The run-up to Monday’s ballot was dominated by the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic — largely seen as a success, and allegations of corruption that have embroiled several former ministers and a serving MP.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s party won 22 seats according to predictions based on a partial vote count, while the opposition United National Congress (UNC) gained 19.<\/p>\n

Rowley declared victory as votes were still being tallied, with the final count expected later this week.<\/p>\n

“I have always said the people… can be trusted to do the right thing when called upon to do so,” he said in the capital Port of Spain.<\/p>\n

But UNC candidate and former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar refused to concede defeat and told reporters her party will demand recounts on three seats — the number required to take power.<\/p>\n

Rowley was quick to thank his supporters after the polls closed, saying older people may have shied from voting because of coronavirus concerns.<\/p>\n

“Our young people have come to the fore,” he said, “this victory is the result of the participation of our young people.”<\/p>\n

“The future of\u00a0Trinidad\u00a0and Tobago is bright.”<\/p>\n

The country has just under 300 registered cases according to a John Hopkins University tally and the government has received praise for its handling of the pandemic, which has boosted its approval rating.<\/p>\n

But virus cases have increased in the lead-up to the election, with 67 people testing positive in the last two weeks.<\/p>\n

Rowley earlier asked supporters not to converge on the party headquarters in case of victory, as is the custom, because of the virus.<\/p>\n

– ‘Cast your vote’ –<\/p>\n

Politics remains largely divided along ethnic lines in diverse\u00a0Trinidad\u00a0and Tobago — a majority of the People’s National Movement (PNM) supporters are of African descent with the UNC popular among those of a South Asian background.<\/p>\n

UNC candidate Persad-Bissessar, who lost power in 2015, had urged voters not to be deterred by long queues and a process slowed by health safety measures.<\/p>\n

Masks were not required at polling stations, where long queues formed. Political analysts said turnout appeared high.<\/p>\n

“In some stations they are saying it is very slow,” Persad-Bissessar said.<\/p>\n

“The feedback I am getting is that in some stations the turnout is very high but some people are turning back because of long lines. I just urge everyone: do your civic duty, cast your vote.”<\/p>\n

Rowley, in power since 2015, announced on Wednesday the closure of all primary schools after several pupils were infected.<\/p>\n

“Every election is important but I think this election is particularly important because it heralds a period… that is difficult for the country,” he said.<\/p>\n

Many blame the new coronavirus cases on the illegal trafficking of economic migrants from neighbouring Venezuela, though no Venezuelan national has recently tested positive.<\/p>\n

The twin-island republic is a first-past-the-post parliamentary democracy modeled on former colonial power Britain.<\/p>\n

Voters elect 41 members of the House of Representatives with the winning party’s leader named prime minister.<\/p>\n

Disgraced former FIFA vice president Austin “Jack” Warner was among those standing for election.<\/p>\n

He is battling extradition to the United States where he faces charges of racketeering and conspiracy as part of a global graft probe into world football’s governing body.<\/p>\n

He was one of 17 single candidates from separate political parties contesting the polls alongside the two main parties. Only PNM and UNC had candidates elected however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PORT OF SPAIN,\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago\u00a0(AFP) \u2014 Trinidad\u00a0and Tobago’s ruling People’s National Movement party has declared victory in a close-run general election where it lost a seat to the opposition, which has said it will contest […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-regional-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=1330%2C1097&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=1330%2C1097&ssl=1",1330,1097,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg",1330,1097,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg",1330,1097,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=300%2C247&ssl=1",300,247,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=1024%2C845&ssl=1",1024,845,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=1330%2C1097&ssl=1",1330,1097,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?fit=1330%2C1097&ssl=1",1330,1097,true],"mh-magazine-slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=1030%2C438&ssl=1",1030,438,true],"mh-magazine-content":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=678%2C381&ssl=1",678,381,true],"mh-magazine-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=678%2C509&ssl=1",678,509,true],"mh-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=326%2C245&ssl=1",326,245,true],"mh-magazine-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/kamla2.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1",80,60,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Regional News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"PORT OF SPAIN,\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago\u00a0(AFP) \u2014 Trinidad\u00a0and Tobago’s ruling People’s National Movement party has declared victory in a close-run general election where it lost a seat to the opposition, which has said it will contest [...]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6549,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions\/6549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}