PNM wins St Joseph

The People's National Movement (PNM) won the St Joseph byelection Monday in a close contest against two other parties - the United National Congress (UNC) and the Independent Liberal Party (ILP).

The final results:

1. Terrence Deyalsingh - PNM - 6356 (44.61%)
2. Ian Alleyne - UNC - 5577 (39.14%)
3. Om Lalla - ILP - 1976 (13.87)
4. Errol Fabien - INDEPENDENT - 300 (2.11%) 
5. Michael Lopez - DNA - 05

Voter turnout was 52.98 per cent of which the PNM got just under 45 per cent of the popular vote. There were 26,891 registered voters. The final count showed that 14,248 voted.

The figures show that the PNM as well as the UNC lost support when compared with the figures from 2010 when the UNC won the seat in a two-way race against the PNM.This is what it looked liked in 2010:

1. Kennedy Swaratsingh PNM - 7,778 41.8% 
2. Herbert VOLNEY UNC - 10,835 58.2%

Monday's election produced the worse showing for both parties in elections since the 2000 general election when the UNC's Carlos John won the seat with 9,753 votes against the PNM's Donna Carter, who won 7,387 votes.

Here are some other statistics:

2001

1. Carlos John UNC 8,824 (55.6%) 
2. Kayam Mohammed PNM 6,793 (42.8%)  
3. Saieed Mohammed TUN 242

2002

1. Dr Sharon Gopaul-McNichol PNM 8,124 (46.5%) 
2. Gerald Yetming UNC 9,352 (53.5%)

2007

1. Dr Carson Charles UNC 4,945 (29.0%) 
2. Gillian Lucky COP 4,145 (24.3%) 
3. Kennedy Swaratsingh PNM 7,965 (46.7%)