By: Staff Writer
April 8, 2025
General elections in Trinidad and Tobago will be held on April 28, 2025 with newly elected Prime Minister Stuart Young as the incumbent looking to give Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar her third straight loss at the polls.
Young, who was selected by parliamentary caucus on January 6, 2025 to replace two term former Prime Minister Keith Rowley, who decided to retire from front line politics altogether, is now leading a People’s National Movement party who have been in government since 2015, is now looking to hand former prime minister Persad-Bissessar her third straight election loss as leader of the United National Congress.
Trinidad’s upcoming election is not without its comedy of personalities, much like all other elections around the Caribbean.
We have seen surprise nominations, like former senior superintendent of police Roger Alexander who accepted the UNC nomination for Tunapuna.
Alexander, no stranger to controversy, has been a spokesperson on crime related matters in Trinidad for several years and was last assigned to the Anti-Extortion Unit before he resigned his post with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service in March.
There were also defections from both parties like Larry Lalla who officially resigned in February from the UNC to the PNM and Philip Watts from the PNM to the UNC to contest the La Horquetta/Talparo seat.
Nomination Day also saw its fair share of excitement as parties indicating they will vie for the votes of the one million-plus electorate are the PNM, NTA, Patriotic Front plus a coalition of the UNC, PEP, LOVE, OWTU and belatedly the COP, while Tobago voters have a choice of the PNM, TPP and PDP, among others to be announced. The UNC has not announced candidates for Tobago.
Chief Elections Officer Fern Narcis-Scope on April 3 told Newsday the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) stood ready to do its duty.
She said candidates will each file a nomination form and statutory declaration, plus party candidates filing the party’s endorsement plus his/her acceptance of that endorsement.
“So we do have a number of political parties, from media reports, which intend to participate in this exercise and are fielding candidates.
“At this time the information we have is that in Tobago as many as seven to nine parties intend to field candidates in Tobago East and Tobago West. Of course those details will only become available tomorrow, nomination day.”