Lynsley Doodhai is the new president of the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA).
Doodhai, who previously held the post of second vice-president, was declared the winner at 1.18 am yesterday.
The results were signed off by the TTUTA Elections Commission close to eight hours after the polls were closed at 5 pm.
Presenting the results at the TTUTA’s headoffice, Curepe,, around 10 am yesterday, outgoing president Davanand Sinanan said 63 per cent of the 11,000- member electorate had participated in the elections.
Claiming they were “free and fair,” Sinanan said there were no reports of major problems or glitches affecting the process.
The voting caravan traversed 76 polling divisions, enabling all teachers to cast their ballots irrespective of the division in which they were.
Sinanan later described the voter turnout as “pretty good.”
The five positions contested included president, first vice-president, second vice-president, third vice- president and treasurer.
The post of general secretary was uncontested, so incumbent Fitzroy Daniel will continue to serve for another three years.
The other positions were filled by Doodhai with 4,648 votes; Gewan Durga as treasurer with 4,544 votes; Marlon Seales as first vice-president with 3,616 votes; Kyrla Robertson as second vice-president with 3,034 votes; and Darren Lee Him as third vice-president with 4,519 votes.
History was created following Robertson’s successful election as she has now become the first woman to hold that position.
Performing his last official function as president when he presented the results yesterday, Sinanan said the election campaign had been well fought.
He urged the incoming executive members to use the time between yesterday and their installation on November 1 “for healing.”
He admitted the election had created acrimony and negativity among people in the quest for votes and that “a little bit of bad blood had been created.”
However, Sinanan believes once officials close ranks and embark on TTUTA’s work to represent all teachers, regardless of who voted for them, they will accomplish whatever mandate is set.
There is a 24-hour window for anyone to challenge the results and if none is forthcoming, Sinanan said the next move would be to inform the ministry’s permanent secretary so that arrangements could be made to facilitate the new executive as it took up its positions.
The incoming executive will be guided by the outgoing members during the one-month transitional period.
Revealing he was experiencing a “bitter-sweet” moment yesterday as he presented the results, Sinanan, who is set to return to his substantive post as principal of the Palo Seco Secondary School, said: “There were very rewarding moments and times of despair.”
He added it had been a gratifying and enlightening six years for which he was grateful.
To the incoming president, Sinanan said everyone had a unique leadership style but that it was necessary to be “patient and tolerant.”
Admitting that it can sometimes become overwhelming, Sinanan said Doodhai would do well to remember that with teamwork and collaboration, “the job is not difficult.”
He added: “Be a good listener and treat everyone with fairness and equity.”
Ecstatic about his win, Doodhai said: “The results reflect the overwhelming majority voted in favour of me as president.”
The independent candidate said he had also re-written the history books by becoming the first such person to attain the highest possible office.
Thanking his campaign team for its work to ensure his victory at the polls, Doodhai said he would always strive to maintain the confidence the electorate had placed in him for the next three years.
First on the agenda after being installed, Doodhai said he intended to convene a meeting with the Ministry of Education to address matters affecting teachers, as their monthly meetings had not materialised since July.
Contradicting Sinanan’s claims that the voting process had gone smoothly, Doodhai said his polling agents had been made aware of a problem where certain teachers were being presented with pens containing a pull-out feature, bearing the pictures and names of certain hopefuls, to take into the voting booth.
He said once the voting officials were made aware of it, the matter was rectified immediately.