Tobago House of Assembly dissolved; no date yet for election

THA Chief Secretary Orville London

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has been dissolved ahead of the election in the island. However Chief Secretary Orville London has not named the date of the election. The vote was not constitutionally due until January 2013. 

London has been the head of the THA since 2001 when the People's National Movement (PNM) defeated the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) led by Hochoy Charles. He is confident that he would win a fourth consecutive term.

In the 2001 election the PNM won eight of the 12 seats in the THA. The party repeated its success in 2005 with 11 seats. However, in 2009 it lost some ground to the new Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP), winning eight seats.

TOP, which is led by Ashworth Jack, holds the four opposition seats. TOP is a member of the Trinidad & Tobago government coalition led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She recently challenged opposition leader Keith Rowley to ask London to call an election.

Under the provisions of the THA act, the election must be held not less than two months following the dissolution. This means that the earliest date for the election would the week of Christmas and the latest would be January 25, 2013.
The election date must be approved by the president and prime minister. London has said he would propose a date for the elections to President Max Richards and is hoping that it would be acceptable to the PM.

Jack is confident that his party would defeat the PNM and that he would emerge as the new Chief Secretary. He told the Express newspaper London dissolved the assembly ahead of its four year term because he is "running scared".