By Sue-Ann Wayow
VOTERS in two local government electoral districts will head back to the polls to determine their local government councillors today Monday.
The bye-elections for the Quinam/Morne Diablo and Lengua/Indian Walk take place with both the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC) anticipating a victory for those areas.
The candidates for Quinam/Morne Diablo are Anderson Nanan for the PNM and Sarah Sookdeo for the UNC.
In Lengua/Indian Walk are PNM’s Autly Granthume, UNC’s Nicole Gopaul and Independent Peterson Morales are looking to claim victory.
According to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), eligible voters for the Quinam/Morne Diablo bye-election and the Lengua/Indian Walk election are 8,369 and 8,465 respectively in accordance with the Revised List of Electors.
Voting will take place in usual local government election format from 6 am to 6 pm at the various polling stations.
The bye-election for Quinamn/Morne Diablo is taking place due to the death of former local government councillor Diptee Ramnath last December. Ramnath who won under a UNC banner was also the Chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation.
Lengua/Indian Walk was more conflicted following the local government election in August, 2023.
Initially, Granthume was declared the winner, but a requested recount showed that the end result was a tie.
A special ballot in favour of Gopaul which would have broken the tie result was rejected by the EBC returning officer, a decision which was condemned and contested in court by the UNC.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the petition in March maintaining that the election rules under the Representation of the People Act allowed for the rejection of the special ballot.
The public announcement for the bye-elections date was made on May 11 this year.
The elections for UNC voters in those areas come on the heels of the UNC internal election that ended on Saturday.
Both teams, the winning STAR team led by UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the United Patriots (UP) slate led by Rushton Paray have thrown their support behind the party’s candidates with an anticipation of victory by Monday night.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as well as Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi spent Saturday night in Lengua/Indian Walk with Granthume encouraging voters to go out in their numbers to support the PNM.
If the PNM wins any of the two bye-elections, it would mean that the winner would be the sole PNM representative in the regional corporations already dominated by the UNC.
Chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation Gowtam Maharaj and campaign manager for Sookdeo told AZP News on Monday that the electorate was well in tuned with the issues of the election.
The UNC ended their campaign with a large motorcade in the area on Sunday.
In Lengua/Indian Walk PNM’s Campaign Manager Lisa Atwater told AZP News, “Things are looking positive from our end. All systems are in place.”
The EBC, last Wednesday stated that it was fully prepared for the bye-elections to ensure that there was a smooth and fair voting process.
