Senior Reporter
jannelle.bernard@cnc3.co.tt
Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says proposals to rename five constituencies are not likely to impact voting patterns.
In an interview on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, Ragoonath said the recommendations made by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), which include changing the boundaries in 16 constituencies, will not be implemented in time to affect the 2025 general elections. He added that voting patterns in the country tend to follow a predictable trend.
“When you look at the name changes to the boundaries, people in Claxton Bay who have always been voting UNC and PNM, although they would be voting in Point-a-Pierre constituency, they will continue to vote the way that they have previously voted,” he explained.
“Some of them might decide they are going to stay home, some of them might decide they will not vote for the party that they will normally vote for, but I don’t think there is much of a shift in allegiances to parties at this time. A UNC person will hardly move from a UNC to a PNM. A PNM person will not move to go vote for UNC. They might consider voting for another party or they might consider simply staying home.”
Ragoonath added that consideration should be given to redefining boundaries based on the number of voters in both Trinidad and Tobago.
Hamid Ghany, professor of Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies at the UWI, said in an interview over the weekend that the EBC proposals did not make any significant changes that would disturb what appear to be existing trends based on voting behaviour.
In a media release on Tuesday, UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed the EBC had a history of gerrymandering boundaries to benefit the PNM.
She said in 2004, the EBC transferred three strong PNM polling divisions into St Joseph in 2004. She further alleged that the EBC took instructions from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to change boundaries in Tobago to add new seats for the THA elections after the 6-6 deadlock.
