Trinidad and Tobago general election, 2002
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Early general elections were held in
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 ...
on 7 October 2002,
Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...
(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p635
after
People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...
leader
Patrick Manning Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 Ma ...
had failed to secure a majority in the
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...
produced by the
2001 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2001. Africa * 2001 Beninese presidential election * 2001 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 2001 Cape Verdean presidential election * 2001 Chadian presidential election * 2001 Gabonese legislat ...
. This time the PNM was able to secure a majority, winning 20 of the 36 seats. Voter turnout was 69.6%.Nohlen, p641


Background

From 1995–2000, the two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago, the
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 party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, e ...
and the
People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...
competed for political power. Both parties had the same number of representatives in Parliament, however a coalition formed between the UNC and the two-seat
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 ...
allowed the UNC majority status. The 2000 general elections further solidified the UNC's presence in government, as they won a majority of seats. In 2001, early general elections were triggered by a sudden defection of four Representatives from the UNC. In the subsequent elections both the UNC and the PNM won 18 seats in the House of Representatives. With a second lack of majority, both UNC leader
Basdeo Panday Basdeo Panday (; born 25 May 1933) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, and former civil servant who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first ...
and PNM leader
Patrick Manning Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 Ma ...
agreed to respect the decision of President
A. N. R. Robinson Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (16 December 1926 – 9 April 2014; known as A. N. R. or "Ray" Robinson), was the third President of Trinidad and Tobago, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third Prime ...
, who both parties asked to select a new Prime Minister. Despite the UNC having received 49.9% of the vote to the PNM's 46.5%, Robinson, commending his "moral and spiritual values", selected Manning as Prime Minister. However, without a majority of House of Representative Seats, and faced with a
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...
, Manning was forced to call for new elections the following year.


Campaign

The lack of political stability in the Trinidad and Tobago government led to a tense election climate. Accusations of ballot box tampering were levied against PNM campaign managers and other political agents. In April 2002 reports indicated that Franklyn Khan, the Minister of Works and Transport and PNM party chairman, along with Eric Williams, the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, received bribes from a local PNM councilman. Although the reports have not been validated, Khan resigned from his cabinet post in May of the following year. However, the PNM was not the only political party to face controversy during the nine months between elections. With political control only guaranteed for a short while, the newly established PNM government quickly used political resources to sway the public and taint the reputation of the UNC. Under directives from Manning, several Commissions of Inquiry were established to investigate allegations of UNC corporate and political corruption, bribery, and voter padding. The main focus of PNM investigations was the development of the Piarco Airport. Manning tasked his Commissions to inquire after the nature of contract acquisition and development of the airport, as well as allegations of corruption and fraud by several high-ranking members of the UNC. While the investigations did lead to several instances of corruption and bribery, the Commissions better served the PNM by "severely tarnishing the image of the UNC". Capitalizing on theatrical and public investigations into UNC misdeeds, and emphasizing a dynamic effort to increase transparency and end corruption, the PNM were able to frame themselves as the party "you can trust" and handily carried the October elections.


Results


Aftermath

The reaction of the government to the process of the 2002 election was irresolute. Historically, elections inflamed otherwise tranquil race relations within Trinidad and Tobago. Immediate reactions to the stymied election were disparate investigations of voter fraud across municipalities. Manning increased the number of parliamentary seats from 36 to 41 in order to prevent any future ties, and also appointed his wife as minister of Education.


References

{{Trinidad and Tobago elections
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
Elections in Trinidad and Tobago 2002 in Trinidad and Tobago