150 Candidates Contesting The General Election in This Caribbean Nation

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Fri. July 24, 2020, Trinidad Guardian: A total of 150 candidates will contest the August 10, 2020 general election in the Caribbean twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) says.

The People’s National Movement (PNM) is the only political party fielding candidates in all 41 constituencies in T&T. The United National Congress (UNC) has put up a slate of 39 candidates in Trinidad and the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) is fielding 28 candidates in Trinidad. There are five independent candidates in the 2020 general election. These candidates are presenting themselves in the following electoral districts:

· Chaguanas East

· Moruga/Tableland

· St Joseph

Two independent candidate are presenting themselves in the constituency of Tobago West.

The following is a listing of the political parties and the number of candidates contesting the upcoming elections:

· The People’s National Movement – 41

· The United National Congress – 39

· The Progressive Empowerment Party – 28

· The Trinidad Humanity Campaign – 7

· The New National Vision – 6

· The Movement for Social Justice – 5

· The Congress of the People – 4

· The Movement for National Development – 3

· The Progressive Democratic Patriots – 2

· The National Coalition for Transformation – 2

· The Progressive Party – 1

· The Independent Liberal Party – 1

· The Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago – 1

· The Nationwide Organization of We the People – 1

· The Unrepresented Peoples Party – 1

· The Trinidad and Tobago Democratic Front – 1

· The National Party – 1

· One Tobago Voice – 1

According to information from the EBC, a candidate has to poll no less than one-eighth of the total number of votes in the electoral district to get his/her deposit back. Election Rule 9 (2) outlines that the deposit is $5,000. The EBC has collected a total of $750,000 for this year.