The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) was a short-lived

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It was introduced on Wednesday, 7 June 2006, after its first meeting at the Crowne Plaza, Port of Spain.Alexander, Gail
"DNA is T&T’s ‘third force’ in local politics"
''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'', 8 June 2006. DNA arose out of the unification of the

Democratic National Assembly The Democratic National Assembly (DNA) is a political party in the Trinidad and Tobago. The party is meant to serve as a "third force" is society, providing a "non-tribal" alternative to the ruling United National Congress and the Opposition Peop ...

, the

National Alliance for Reconstruction The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005. History The party was established in 1986, aiming to be a multi-racial party. Nohlen, D ...

(NAR), the

Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago The Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago (DPTT) is a political party formed in 2001 in Trinidad and Tobago. It does not have parliamentary representation. The party is led by Steve Alvarez, with Wayne Rodriguez as its chairman. The party s ...

(DPTT) and the Grassroots Foundation, and was under the interim leadership of former

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a Centre-left politics, centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a ...

politician

Gerald Yetming Gerald Yetming (葉明 born 4 January 1945) is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and businessman. Since 2002 he has served as the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of St. Joseph in the House of Representatives of Trinidad and ...

, with Steve Alvarez (leader of the DPTT) as Deputy Chairman, Hugh Wooding Thomas as Secretary, Afra Raymond, NAR political leader

Carson Charles Carson Charles is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and former Minister of Works and Transportation. He is the political leader of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After the resignation of A.N.R. Robinson as NAR leader in 1991 fo ...

as policy officer and Hilda Goodial as elections officer. Yetming described the party as embodying the principles and aspirations of UNC political leader

Winston Dookeran Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran (; born 24 June 1943) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician and economist as well as international public official. Dookeran is the current Secretary-General of EUCLID, an intergovernmental institution of higher ...

. The party was to be officially launched in August 2006. In a statement on Thursday 29 June 2006, the Democratic National Assembly said "it had taken a principled decision that it will no longer be pursuing an alliance with either the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) or Mr. Gerald Yetming or the Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago (DPTT)", effectively splitting the coalition of the three entities. In reply Mr Yetming said he would continue to work with the NAR, DPTT and any other body desirous of joining them. He added that another group would soon be joining his attempt to unite the small parties, and promised an announcement on that by next week. "I am trying to build a third force of all the small political groups, bearing in mind that the UNC can't do that any more," Yetming added. In July 2006 the National Democratic Party of Micheal Sims joined the alliance and the grouping renamed itself the

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

References

{{Reflist * Lal-Beharie, Gregory
"DNA axes Yetming"
''Trinidad Express'', 1 July 2006. Defunct political parties in Trinidad and Tobago Political parties established in 2006 Political parties disestablished in 2006 2006 establishments in Trinidad and Tobago