The recent Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election has resulted in Watson Duke as minority leader, giving legitimacy to his bold and outrageous style of leadership. The accused has risen above his charges and circumstances to celebrate a victory in Roxborough and Speyside.
This win is significant because a six-month-old party has taken away two seats from a 60-year-old party. The political momentum of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) resulting from a full-fledged ground campaign is noteworthy.
The PDP campaign had no television ads as opposed to the incumbent PNM. The PDP had one music truck with campaign songs that were remixes of popular songs like “rock and come in”, a couple flyers, and a couple small billboards that strained the eyes on the highway.
The incumbent PNM, however, had all the necessary campaign resources and launched a full attack. PNM’s ground campaign had on average 12 music trucks, banners, huge billboards, massive candidate launches with a full cast of popular artistes and Trinidad reinforcements. The air campaign was spread throughout various radio and television stations across T&T. The PDP should not have gotten any seats based on this robust campaign coupled with incumbency.
It takes a certain amount of unconventional tenacity by Watson Duke and the PDP to prevail in the midst of so much controversy and what appeared to be starved resources. The PNM and the other political stakeholders must take note of this accomplishment.
Watson Duke has been captured on both social and conventional media, being lifted and carried around the community by supporters after hearing the winning results. Tobagonians from the East especially are hailing his success in two seats as a people’s victory. The other successful PDP candidate, Farley Augustine has boasted of refusing both the PNM and the Tobago Forwards when asked ahead of the election date to join their teams.
As minority leader of the THA, Duke has already signalled that it will not be business as usual in Tobago. The PNM has ten seats as opposed to the PDP’s two seats, but Watson Duke says he intends to use his position as minority leader to oppose the PNM agenda and advance his PDP mandate ideas.
Any man who can emerge victorious in an election with the circumstances that Watson Duke had to deal with is someone to watch. Leaders like Watson Duke have no middle ground, he can either be a great failure or a great success.
Ronald Huggins
St Joseph