By Chantalé Fletcher
TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis had hoped for a resolution to the stalemate following the last elections.
In a release from the THA’s Info Hub on Thursday, he said the six to six tie between the People’s National Movement and the Progressive Democratic Patriots following the last THA elctions of January 25, 2021, caused a “very unique arrangement” for governance over the past few months.
He said he was pleased that Tobago will return to the polls on December 6 after consultations with both the Prime Minister and President of Trinidad and Tobago as was the law.
He said, “Initially, I had hoped that this would have been resolved within six months. There were several attempts made to resolve it utilising a number of approaches. The possibility of power-sharing was even discussed by both parties but we have always said that the way to resolve this is to go back to the polls.”
In addition, Dennis also commended the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for conducting the exercise of adding three more electoral districts in Tobago in a very efficient and effective manner.
He admitted that it had not been easy leading this island through a pandemic while, at the same time, under a stalemate arrangement.
“With a six-six tie, the requirement to operate with restraint existed and, therefore, we simply could not do all the things that we hoped to do. I had given a commitment to the people of Tobago that we would lead with restraint, we would only treat with emergency issues and the general operations of the Assembly and I’m happy that we were able to do so.”
Fifteen electoral seats are up for grabs in the December 6 elections compared to 12 in the previous one.
