Tobago Chamber not surprised by TPP win
Tobago Business Chamber president Martin George is not surprised by the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) victory in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) on January 12.
Around 9.45 pm, the TPP had declared a clean sweep in the assembly. The PNM appeared to have lost the Darrel Spring/Whim seat previously held by THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris.
In a telephone interview, George was not surprised by the TPP victory.
“The PNM has not really done enough to inspire the imagination of the electorate.”
George doubted statements from the PNM during the THA elections campaign that they were “a new PNM.”
He said many of the same old faces were in the party’s slate of candidates.
George added the PNM did not do enough to convince Tobagonians they were a serious alternative to the TPP.
While the TPP may not have delivered everything it promised it would over the last four years, George said there was no evidence of the PNM launching any serious attack on the TPP’s credibility.
“They (PNM) were always on the back seat from the start and therefore it is not entirely surprising that this is the result that we are seeing here.”
George said, “At the end of the day, what Tobago needs is leadership that is going to actually put into effect meaningful changes for Tobago and Tobago’s economy.”
Tobagonians, he continued, have seen the TPP’s blueprint and the PNM’s election manifesto.
He repeated that Tobago wants “to see something that is really going to create some tangible results and bring meaningful change for the lives of ordinary Tobagonians.
In the December 2021 THA elections, the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) defeated the PNM 14-1.
THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine was a member of the PDP at the time. Augustine split from the PDP in 2022 after a political fallout with Duke. Thirteen THA members who were elected under the PDP in the December 2021 election resigned from the party to form the TPP in August 2023.
Duke recently expressed the PDP’s support for the TPP in the January 12 election.
BY: CLINT CHAN TACK
Tobago Chamber not surprised by TPP win
