Kelvin Charles, the presiding officer of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), was out front in voting last night in the election for the position of political leader of the People’s National Movement’s Tobago Council.
At the newspaper’s press time, the T&T Guardian’s Tobago correspondent, Casandra Thompson-Forbes, said that Charles was leading with 931 votes, or 36.3 per cent of those who voted, after nine electoral districts had been counted at 9 pm.
Charles was ahead of Tracy Davidson-Celestine, who had received 652 votes, or 25.4 per cent of the voters, with Rene Dumas and Denise Tsoiafatt-Angus also receiving electoral support.
The constitution of the PNM states that, in the event that no candidate receives 50 per cent of the voters plus 1 vote, there would need to be a run-off election for the position.
If it occurs, the run-off election will be held on July 3, according to Ashton Ford, the party’s general secretary. It is estimated that some 4,185 PNM members voted at yesterday’s election out of 8,077 registered voters. That means that 52 of the party’s members voted in the leadership race.
The election was held yesterday because THA Chief Secretary Orville London, who is 70, indicated earlier this year that he did not wish to contest the next THA election, which is due by January 2017. London has been THA chief secretary since he was elected in 2001 and is currently serving his fourth term.
In the 2001 elections the PNM gained control of the THA, winning five seats to the NAR’s four. The PNM consolidated its hold on the THA in the January 2005 elections, winning 11 seats while the Democratic Action Congress (DAC) gained a single seat.
The PNM won eight of the 12 electoral districts in the 2009 poll, and in the 2013 elections the party won a landslide, capturing all 12 districts.
Before London became political leader of the PNM in Tobago, the party had lost five THA elections to groups led by former Prime Minister and President Arthur NR Robinson or to his close proxies.
The election was conducted for the first time under the new one-man, one-vote system as opposed to the delegate system in which candidates were previously selected by party groups.
Seven candidates were in the running for the leadership spot, one of whom will succeed London as leader of the Tobago Council.
The seven contenders for leader in the race included three sitting representatives in the THA, Secretary for Tourism and Transportation Davidson-Celestine, Secretary for Community Development and Culture, Tsoiafatt Angus and Assistant Secretary in the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities Handel Beckles.