Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 15/Jul 04:11

Westminster voting system works for PNM

THE EDITOR: The PNM will always win a general election if it is sufficiently popular to the electorate in the requisite number of constituencies. Why? Because the PNM tends to have a sufficient number of followers throughout the entirety of TT, which is in compliance with victory under the Westminster system. Any coalition of anti-PNM voters can easily win a general election if it can entice voters. It can be done. But the citizens must love you at the time of the general election. I do not view the Westminster system as deliberately unfair. It is unfortunate that the majority of anti-PNM voters live almost exclusively in central and south Trinidad. Call it an anomaly if you will, but it is not the fault of the Westminster system if a coalition cannot entice sufficient members of the electorate throughout the country in order to win governance. The UK Labour Party's victory under the Westminster system is all about current political beauty. Please always remember that there are always more poor than wealthy people. The Labour Party is popular because, like the PNM, it has a support base that encompasses many citizens across the entire social strata. Poor, middle class and wealthy. As far as I am aware, the Labour party in England has always been popular with immigrants of all skin colour. Not the Tories. Immigrants from many Commonwealth countries living permanently in the UK would have been part of this 2024 resounding Labour victory. The Tories are decidedly not popular today as their idea for stemming the tide of immigrants in boats was to send them to Rwanda. But I am straying from the point. The Westminster system works in TT if you have sufficient people liking what is on offer in your manifesto. Plus, of course, the leader must be charismatic. Here in TT, with only 1.4 million citizens, victory at the polls is all about being very popular in a particular year. Can a 2025 coalition of political parties repeat the resounding People's Partnership 2010 victory? Will the coalition leader with the most support base votes demand yet again to be prime minister? LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin The post Westminster voting system works for PNM appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.