Had it not been for a three-day fisherman festival at Charlotteville which distracted Tobagonians from going to the polls on Sunday, candidate Tracy Davidson-Celestine insists she would have won the position of political leader of the People’s National Movement Tobago Council.
Instead, Davidson-Celestine, who serves as Tobago House of Assembly Secretary (THA) for Tourism and Transportation, will have to square off against her main rival THA’s presiding officer Kelvin Charles in the party’s first run-off election on July 3.
On Sunday, Davidson-Celestine and Charles were two of seven contenders who vied for the leadership post in the party’s internal election. According to the PNM’s constitution, the winner for this post of political leader must receive 50 per cent or more of the votes cast. Where no one candidate obtains 50 per cent or more, then two candidates with the greater percentage of votes will have to engage in a run-off election.
“I am very thankful that I am in the race for the run-off. It could have been different. It’s the first time we are having a run-off so I am very excited. I have learned a lot from the election process. I just want to say that there is hope in going forward,” Davidson-Celestine said yesterday.
In thanking her campaign team and those who voted for her, Davidson-Celestine said if she is victorious at the polls this Sunday, she would strengthen the PNM’s Tobago support base.
She descried herself as the most-experienced candidate, which she feels would give her the edge.
When asked how she felt about her chances, Davidson-Celestine replied: “I am very confident that with the support of the people that we can do this one more time. I am very optimistic.”
Although a little over 4,000 of the 8,077 voters showed up to exercise their franchise at 13 polling stations, Davidson-Celestine admitted that her team faced several challenges with the election process.
“To begin with, we had a big fisherman fete in my constituency of Charlotteville. That is one of my strongest areas in my constituency. So people who went to the fete were very distracted. They were supposed to be coming out to vote but they were actually having J’Ouvert and that kind of thing. So I had that issue to deal with.”
Questioned if the fete, which began on June 24 and ended the 26, had not taken place, if she would have become victorious at the polls, Davidson-Celestine said “Yes! yes! Given the fact that so many of the persons who came out to vote were not registered I am sure I would have been able to bring the numbers in.”
Another irregularity for Davidson-Celestine was that the names of some registered voters were not on the voters’s list.
“In addition to that, persons who were registered within their electoral district had to go to different areas in order to vote, while there were long lines at the polling stations.”
Yesterday, Davidson-Celestine said she made recommendations to the PNM’s council to avoid the recurrence of the extended lines and appealed for the cleaning up the electoral list.
“We have made recommendations in terms of the management of the polling stations. We have to tighten up the election machinery. I really don’t want to be too hard on them because this is the first instance, but it caused some stress yesterday (Sunday). I am hoping by the time the election comes around this Sunday they would have learned from our last experience,” Davidson-Celestine said.
‘HISTORIC ELECTION’
PNM’s general secretary Ashton Ford yesterday appealed to all eligible voters to come out and vote for a new political leader.
Ford said this will be the PNM’s first run-off election in Tobago under the party’s one-man one-vote system.
“Our June 26 election was a historic day for the PNM in terms of the one-man-one vote system being used to elect new leaders.”
Ford said he was given the assurance by Alvin Pascall, chairman of the elections supervisory committee, that issues that cropped up during the election will be addressed.
“He (Pascall) is working to ensure that things are a little more efficient for Sunday...based on the experience they had yesterday.”
Asked if the PNM expects a higher voter turn-out, Ford said “we always expect a good turn out.”
He said PNM’s political leader Dr Keith Rowley was happy that everything went well.
“Dr Rowley was happy this morning. He sent a message to the candidates thanking them by offering themselves to serve.”
The PNM also extended best wishes to outgoing chief secretary Orville London who provided yeoman service to the party and Tobago. London will demit office after a new political leader is announced.