A female lawyer appeared poised to make history yesterday in Trinidad and Tobago’s high-risk snap elections called by Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who heads a five-party coalition, led in the last opinion polls, after a close campaign in the energy-rich Caribbean nation.
The 58-year-old is hoping to become Trinidad and Tobago’s first woman prime minister while Manning is seeking a fourth term.
Lines of people began forming outside polling stations before they opened at 6am as the Elections and Boundaries Commission called for voting to take place peacefully. About 3,000 police deployed to oversee the vote.
Some 1.1 million eligible voters in the nation of 1.3 million are allowed two hours off work to cast their ballot until polls close at 6pm.
Persad-Bissessar tapped into voter concerns about rising crime and corruption after Manning called the elections mid-way through his five-year term.
The winner needs a simple majority of seats in the 41-member parliament, where the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) now holds 26 seats and the main opposition United National Congress (UNC) has those remaining.
Foreign observers expected little change in energy policy in the oil and gas-rich nation, regardless of who wins.
Politics in the former British colony have long been divided along lines of Indian or African descent, and a handful of swing seats were expected to be key.
Manning’s PNM mainly draws support from Afro-Trinidadians and has dominated politics for half a century.
Persad-Bissessar, from the UNC which largely relies on Indo-Trinidadian backing, is seeking multi-ethnic support in her “People’s Partnership.”
She has a former campaign strategist for US President Barack Obama helping promote her message for change.
The Manning administration has been under fire for spending millions of dollars on giant building projects and for hosting two major summits last year, including the Summit of the Americas attended by Obama.
Critics deplore what they see as wasted resources as well as a lack of much-needed spending on healthcare.
Manning’s supporters laud the 63-year-old’s policies such as free higher education and his long experience.
It was not exactly clear why he decided to dissolve parliament last month, shortly before a vote of no confidence he was expected to win, but also amid corruption allegations — which have hurt both main parties in recent years.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that 150 Russian troops were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers
A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said on Sunday, with an Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs source identifying both as Italian nationals. “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement. A source at the Italian foreign ministry said that the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old. They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, about 50km north
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday expressed concern about “the political crisis” in Georgia, two days after Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of the South Caucasus nation, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. “We strongly condemn last week’s violence against peaceful protesters, media and opposition leaders, and recall Georgian authorities’ responsibility to respect human rights and protect fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to assembly and media freedom,” the three ministers wrote in a joint statement. In reaction
BARRIER BLAME: An aviation expert questioned the location of a solid wall past the end of the runway, saying that it was ‘very bad luck for this particular airplane’ A team of US investigators, including representatives from Boeing, on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea, while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it slammed into a barrier and burst into flames. The plane was seen having engine trouble.
RSS