TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Parliamentary Chamber: House of Representatives

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1995

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Chamber:
  House of Representatives


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  6 November 1995


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats of the House of Representatives following the premature dissolution of this body. General elections were previously held in December 1991.


Background and outcome of elections:

  In August 1995, the Government of Prime Minister Patrick Manning (People's National Movement - PNM) declared a state of emergency and placed the Speaker of the House of Representatives under house arrest. In October, Mr. Manning called for premature elections after the Government's parliamentary majority fell to one seat.

As in the past, the PNM - in power for all but five years since independence in 1962 - was mainly opposed by the United National Congress (UNC), headed by Mr. Basdeo Panday. The latter, active throughout his career in the trade union movement, called especially for vigorous action on unemployment and crime; he also vowed to introduce anti-racial discrimination legislation. The PNM, for its part, campaigned on its record and the economic stability achieved during it rule.

Polling day results left the two main adversaries deadlocked with 17 House seats each, as both gained in the popular vote at the expense of the smaller National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), which as before captured the two Tobago seats. Once again, a racial divide manifested itself in the polling, with the PNM receiving most of its support from the primarily urban Afro-Trinidadian population and the UNC being backed by the mostly rural-based Indo-Trinidadian community. Four other minor parties failed to gain representation.

Given this outcome, and after the UNC and the NAR had concluded a coalition agreement, Mr. Panday was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 November - the first Trinidadian of Indian origin to hold this post; he promised a government of "national unity". The new Cabinet was sworn in on 15 November.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (6 November 1995): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 837,741
Voters 530,311 (63.3%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers 4,985
Valid votes 525,326

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group Candidates Votes %
People’s National Movement (PNM) 17 256,159 48.76
United National Congress (UNC) 17 240,372 45.76
National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) 2 24,983 4.76

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total Gain/Loss
People’s National Movement (PNM) 17 -4
United National Congress (UNC) 17 +4
National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) 2 =

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 32
Women: 4

Distribution of seats according to age:  
31-40 years 12
41-50 years 12
51-60 years 9
61-70 years 3


Distribution of seats according to profession:

 
Lawyers 9
Former MPs 7
Businessmen 5
Economists and lecturers 4
Civil servants 3
Engineers 3
Doctors 2
Others 3


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Copyright © 1995 Inter-Parliamentary Union