PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning dissolved Parliament Thursday (Apr. 8) in a surprise move, paving the way for a general election more than two and a half years early.
In a press statement, Manning told the Trinidadian public that he had advised President George Richards to dissolve Parliament effective midnight on Thursday. The move came just hours before the legislative body was set to vote on a motion of no confidence against the beleaguered PM.
A date for the election is still to be announced; however, Trinidad and Tobago’s Constitution dictates that one must be held a minimum of 35 days and a maximum of 90 days after Parliament’s dissolution.
Manning and his ruling People’s National Movement party (PNM) have already begun screening candidates for the upcoming election, the country’s second in just over two years. The first one was held in November 2007.
The PM has declined to make any public comments since announcing the dissolution, only telling reporters in the capital that he would soon declare a date.
In response to Manning’s abrupt action, Parliament Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar called him a “coward” and said the dissolution was an admission of the “colossal failure” of his PNM administration.
She claimed that Manning was scared of information that would have been revealed during today’s (Apr. 9) debate on the no confidence motion.
Persad-Bissessar is the political leader of opposition party the United National Congress (UNC), which won 15 to the PNM’s 26 parliamentary seats in the 2007 election.
“He took the coward’s way out,” read her statement. “He was afraid to face the opposition members. He was afraid to face his own members because he could not guarantee they would vote for him.”
There has also been speculation that Manning sought an early election to prevent the UNC and the Congress of the People (COP), another opposition party, from joining forces.
Persad-Bissessar said she would accelerate talks with the other parties to form a coalition and urged Manning to announce an exact time for the polls, stressing that the UNC would be ready no matter the date.
