76.2% voter turnout in THA election

Preliminary results from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) confirm a higher than normal voter turnout of more than 70 per cent in Monday's Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election.
The summary shows:

• People's National Movement (PNM) - 19,919
• The Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) - 11,927
• The Platform for Truth (TPT) - 656 
• Total: 35,502 from an electorate of 46,601
• Percentage voted: 76.2 
• Percentage abstained: 23.8

That's substantially higher than the previous election when just over 56 per cent voted and the highest voter turnout in the history of the THA. The previous high was in 2001 with 60 per cent. That's the year the PNM won its first term, ousting the National Alliance for Reconstruction administration led by Hochoy Charles.

It is expected the president will inaugurate the THA on Thursday. For the first time there will be no minority leader. That has raised the issue of the legality of the assembly. However Chief Secretary Orville London has said his legal advice is that the assembly can be legally constituted without an opposition.

The national legislature faced a similar situation after the 1971 general election  when there was an opposition sponsored no vote campaign and the People's National Movement (PNM) led by Dr Eric Williams won all 36 seats. The parliament operated without an opposition leader until one PNM MP defected and became the official opposition leader.