THE independent candidates in the 2025 general election say they prefer to be free to focus on the people and represent them in the ways they should be, instead of being constrained by party politics.
Vivian Johnson, who is contesting the Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West seat, told Newsday his first foray into politics was two years ago when he ran for councillor for Belmont South in the local government election. He received 128 votes, more than some smaller political parties that contested the election.
The father of five and grandfather of three recalled how former Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Dr Rai Ragbir was ridiculed and then dismissed after breaking with the UNC ranks and “voting with his conscience” by siding with the government on the whistleblower bill.
He also pointed out that five former UNC MPs – Rushton Paray, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Rodney Charles, Dinesh Rambally and Ragbir – were labelled as dissidents because they called for internal elections and ran against the political leader.
“With the parties, an MP who was elected by his constituents cannot stand up for their constituency. They have to toe the party line. So I really feel there should be more independents in Parliament. That way you will get MPs who focus on the people rather than the politics.”
He said big political parties did whatever they wanted to the people and they could do little about it. But during elections, voting was the only time people could stand up against them.
Johnson, 56, spent 13 years working at the Ministry of Agriculture, six years at Toyota and ten years at Massy Motors before he resigned and opened a mini-mart in his home area of Belmont. He said the shop allowed him to interact with people every day, getting to know the people of the area as well as their issues.
“I’m just fed up with everything going on in the country – the infrastructure, the roads in a mess, the crime, if you’re travelling you can’t get foreign exchange, the way the politicians talk to us, and even the media. I’m just fed up with everything and I feel I can make a difference.”
In addition, he said he knew several youths from his community who were murdered over the last few years and little was being done. He said he also had issues with the middle class disappearing as the gap between the rich and the poor kept increasing, and that former prime minister Dr Rowley gave PM Stuart Young SC the position, guaranteeing Young to get a large pension while citizens were suffering.
“I hope to win but I know it’s a tough battle. It’s against the PM, but somebody has to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough. We are fed up of being taken for granted.’”
Tobago candidate guided by voice of people
Leroy George, an independent candidate contesting the Tobago West seat, is the only independent candidate in Tobago.
His political career started in 2013 when he was under-employed as a steelbender. He was disgruntled after returning to Tobago from studying mechanical engineering at Temple University, Philadelphia, and found himself liming on the block a lot.
One day he was approached by another young man who asked who he was going to vote for in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election. George said he was not going to vote but the man encouraged him to do so, even if he did not like any candidate.
“He said, ‘The politicians who make policies and laws are not going to take people who think like us, walk like us, are like us, into consideration because they will say people like them don’t vote.’
“That was a big epiphany for me and I insisted on voting for a party that wasn’t going to win. I fulfilled my obligation to people like myself by being seen to go and vote, but at the same time I wouldn’t have been responsible for whatever happens next.”
After that, he spent a lot of time thinking about democracy, policies and politics, and by the time the next THA election came around, he decided to become more involved in politics. He became a campaigner for the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) and eventually became the operations coordinator in the office of the minority leader and the elections officer of the party.
He also started writing articles on topics people were interested in, including politics, and posting them on social media. That led him to join the Tobago Writers’ Guild in 2016, as he had, by then, developed aspirations to become a writer.
He said the political leader, Watson Duke, gave him total license to do what he wanted as long as it would help prevent the PNM from winning seats in the THA. He was also the party’s candidate for Buccoo/Mt Pleasant but the then deputy political leader, Farley Augustine, overrode that decision.
He said his freedom of speech was being limited as saying what was on his mind was frowned upon because it was expected toe the party's line. However, he said by 2020, as Augustine gained more popularity, the stifling of his freedom of expression became more intense and he hated it. He started to feel unhappy so he left the party.
He joined another smaller party but realised the same problem existed there. He thought, “If, in a small party, I still couldn’t get any freedom of expression, in what kind of party would I get freedom of speech?
“I started to think, ‘Democracy is as wonderful as I thought it was, but there is an issue in how it is being meted out. The issue is that political parties are being used to suppress freedom of speech, thought, expression, etc.’”
George, 40, of Carnbee, Tobago realised this year was the 100th anniversary of the first general election in TT and created the organisation Full Hundred Democracy to celebrate. Also understanding there would be two major elections in Tobago this year, he decided he would run for Tobago West and he would not do it with any political party. This way he would be free to express his every thought and view without limitations.
He said Full Hundred Democracy had public discussions on democracy and he concluded TT’s democracy needed improvement. He said from 1925 to the 1970s, the country's democracy made incremental improvements but had been dormant since then.
“Because we feel we’ve got to where we need to go in terms of independence and sovereignty, we became lapse. As a result of that, we haven’t been making progress. And the political parties, which were created to facilitate group thinking to create exponential positive change in our society and so on, have devolved into privately-owned or controlled organisations.”
Therefore, if he became MP, he intended to “inject an increase in democracy” in the form of direct democracy, where the people would directly decide on policies, laws or decisions rather than the elected representatives.
He said 60 per cent of Tobagonians worked directly in the public sector and about 20 per cent got most of their business from the public sector, so they were hesitant to voice their dissent. So if he was elected, when he was called on to vote for a bill or policy, he would go to the people using polls, phone calls or other ways to reach as many people in his constituency as possible.
“In this way, everybody in Tobago West will have a say in every decision I make going forward.
“And I suspect, as a result of that, people will vote for the things that would build them up so we will have a stronger economy. I believe they will feel like they’re really contributing to society and be more patriotic, which would solve a lot of problems.
“Whether I win or lose it really would not matter because a strong message is going to go out there, that what this guy is selling, we’re for that, so the politicians will need to start to adjust.”
He believed his campaign would create a positive change for the people and across all political parties.
Capital punishment for corrupt politicians
Independent candidate for Chaguanas East Ernesto Singh had a different message for his campaign: capital punishment for corrupt politicians.
“I am on the street and when you talk to anybody, everybody has the same problems throughout TT. No one is immune. And when they finish with their complaints, they complain about the corrupt politicians.
“So I’m taking the lead from the streets – capital punishment for corrupt politicians. That’s what the people want. The highest office must have the highest punishment. They not leading by example but they want us to play to a different tune. It has to be one boat where nobody is better than nobody.”
Singh, 47, said a vote for him was a vote for capital punishment for corrupt politicians. He said he was sending a message and the politicians would hear the people when they see how many people voted for him.
“It’s a seed we planting. We not in no rush. Slowly, people are standing up and pushing back. They not taking the bullying from the politicians anymore. We are not tolerating corruption.”
He said even when they were jumping up with political parties on the campaign trails, most people knew they were being “mamaguyed” and some would be evaluating the situation and vote to suit.
The businessman worked at the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Ltd for ten years and resigned in 2008 to focus on his business full-time.
He said his father was a councillor in the 1980s with the Caroni County Council, now the Chaguanas Borough Corporation and his family lived in Chaguanas for approximately 100 years.
He said his decision to get into politics was unplanned as he only did it after people encouraged him to put himself up as a candidate because they knew him and his potential.
Singh said as an entrepreneur he knew how to work with others, how to get people to work and how to get things done without getting egos involved, and promised to apply that to getting things done for his constituency.
