The Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) has reversed its decision to allow incumbent MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin to contest the Tobago East seat for a second term. The party has selected Goodwood High School mathematics teacher and Costaatt lecturer Joseph Frederick instead. Frederick is the public relations officer for the TOP.
The announcement was made at a news conference at the party’s headquarters yesterday. On July 31, the party announced their two candidates for the 2015 general election, giving Alleyne-Toppin the nod for the east seat and Natasha Ann Second for the seat in the west.
Political leader of the TOP, Ashworth Jack, said the decision was in the best interest of Tobago.
“We would have had a lot of discussions with persons in the public and within the organisation and we felt that it was in the best interest of Tobago,” he said.
Jack said while the TOP was a member of the People’s Partnership coalition, their decision to change Alleyne-Toppin as a candidate for the upcoming general election had nothing to do with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Sources close to the party said Frederick submitted his nomination and was screened, but he was bypassed with the hope that Alleyne-Toppin would have been embraced by the Tobago population. However, during their walkabouts it was realised that she was no longer palatable to the Tobago electorate.
Meanwhile, Frederick, 36, who also sits on the board of the Metal Industries Company Ltd, said he was grateful that he was selected. He said having experienced life in Tobago under the former PNM administration, Tobagonians were left with no other choice but to reject that party.
“The only choice that should be made is for a party that has brought this kind of development and issues of Tobago nationally and that would be the TOP. The race, come September 7, is between Tobagonians who are Tobagocentric and committed to the development of Tobago and those who are not,” Frederick said.