By Alicia Chamely

Political leader of the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) Farley Augustine says no decision has been made regarding the TPP joining forces with the United National Congress (UNC) government.

Augustine was speaking with reporters on Thursday at the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and Attorney General at the President’s House.

The TPP secured both the Tobago West and Tobago East seats in the 2025 general election. The last time a Tobago-born party secured both seats was in the 1976 general election, which saw the ANR Robinson-led Democratic Action Congress (DAC) defeat the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) in the polls, he said. Like the DAC, the TPP will enter parliament as the minority, holding two seats.

The TPP has long fielded rumours over an alliance with the UNC. Speculation of alliance grew during campaign season, when the PNM alleged to have had audio recordings of Augustine and Prime Minister, then opposition leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar in conversation.

Questioned as to whether the TPP had given any thought to joining with the UNC government, Augustine said that conversation has yet to be had by the party executive.

While he did not quash the idea, he did say at this point it was not a consideration as the party still needed to arrange themselves after their win.

He did say however, he was hopeful that the relationship between the TPP and the UNC would be more cordial than the one with the PNM, whom he referred to as “Tobago’s natural enemy.”

Farley said a challenge the party now faced was assuring they were heard within the halls of parliament being the smallest party there. He said while the TPP was excited to begin this new chapter in their history, they were also “optimistically cautious.”

Asked as to whether the Sandals deal was an option for Tobago, Farley did not rule it out. He said the TPP was open to talking with Sandals if they were still interested in exploring Tobago as a destination.