The recent social unrest in Port-of-Spain will not be enough to unseat the People’s National Movement (PNM) from government.
This was the view of political analyst Dr Winford James on Friday, moments after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced August 10 as the date.
James said although the PNM was “most definitely” losing some of the political goodwill it had built up by its handling of the COVID-19 virus, he didn’t believe the protests had anything to do with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s decision to call an election in five weeks’ time.
“Better now than later. The unrest will hardly dent support for the PM and the PNM,” James said.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister announced the formation of a committee to better understand what is going on in the “hot spot,” high crime areas of east Port-of-Spain following three days of protests starting in Morvant and ending in the capital over the police killings of three men in M0rvant.
There was speculation in some quarters that this discontent in PNM strongholds could affect the party in the elections. But James said he believed the PNM’s handling of the coronavirus “still resonates well with the citizenry.”
However, James did pinpoint what he felt may be one of the reasons for the sudden election call.
“The economy will likely worsen later in the year,” he said.