POLITICAL analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said the expected extent of the UNC's victory was so great that the party has won a special majority of seats in the House of Representatives, such that it would not necessarily need to be allied with the TPP which seemed set to win the Tobago West and Tobago East seats.
He was speaking as part of a panel discussion on CCN TV6 on the night of April 28, chaired by Marlan Hopkinson.
Minutes earlier, PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley publicly announced he expected his party to win ten-12 seats, losing their marginal seats and other seats.
Ragoonath wondered how the parties would react to one another, even as he recalled TPP leader recently saying he was unsure if the party would lean towards the PNM or UNC in the event that Tobago held the balance of power.
He asked about the contrast between day-long reports of a high voter turnout with an ultimate finding of a low turnout.
Ragoonath reckoned the PNM loss reflected substantial PNM voters staying away from the polling station in areas such as the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency, to send the government a message that it had not responded to their concerns.
This echoed a point made earlier by former independent senator Sunity Maharaj.
While the full tallies of votes in each constituency had not yet come in, Maharaj reckoned the UNC win was not due to a surge in UNC votes but more likely an abstention by some PNM voters.
She termed the result "an incredible comeback."
"This was an incredible story of a woman in her seventies, not in the best of health, who has defeated a much younger person."
Maharaj said the town hall meetings had helped the UNC stay connected to the general public. "The priority now is to deliver."
She saw the election's break out star as PSA president Felisha Thomas, noting she had kept wage promises to public servants fresh on any UNC platform on which she had appeared.
Kirk Meighoo congratulated Persad-Bissessar for having risen like a phoenix, after having been written off by many.
He said the UNC now must deliver and maintain the trust of the population.
Tobago-based businesswoman Dianne Hadeed congratulated the UNC on its campaign which she said had reached the people and resonated with them.
Ragoonath, in a concluding remark, wondered what the relationship would be between the government and President Christine Kangaloo, who had been appointed by the outgoing PNM government.
He also cautioned that Persad-Bissessar was not in the best of health and so should start to deal with the issue of succession in the UNC.
Ragoonath hoped the UNC would not end up in a situation like the recent choice by PNM MPs of Stuart Young as prime minister.
