Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has set Monday 29 July as the date for the Chaguanas West by-election. Her announcement was made at the end of an 18-hour sitting of the House of Representatives Thursday morning.
Former National Security Minister Jack Warner, who resigned the seat on April 26 said he was not surprised by the date chosen, and he was confident of re-election.
Persad-Bissessar, in her four-minute statement in Parliament, said the decision to hold the elections on July 29 was in keeping with a 2010 election promise to hold all elections when they were constitutionally due. The Chaguanas West by-election was constitutionally due no later than August 10.
Persad-Bissessar said she met with several Muslim leaders recently to discuss the possibility of calling the elections during the month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin on July 9th (based on the sighting of the moon). The Muslim leaders gave the PM the assurance that they had no objection to the election being held in the month of Ramadan, the PM said. President General of the Anjuman Sunnat ul Jamaat Association (ASJA) Yacoob Ali asked the PM if it was possible to not call the election in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan because Muslims would be confined to the mosque.
On June 7, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) completed its registration exercise for all citizens wishing to ensure their names were on the Electors List. The Elections and Boundaries Commission said there was an increase of 1,269 voters in the Chaguanas West constituency. As registration of voters came to an end on Friday, more registrations were still being done. More than 26,000 people are eligible to vote in next month’s by election.
The United National Congress (UNC) has not confirmed its candidate for the election as yet.
The Peoples National Movement will select its candidate on Monday.
Warner, who recently resigned as UNC chairman and Minister of National Security, was elected in May 2010 after he received more than 18,000 votes.