General election in Trinidad and Tobago 1971
The 1976 general election in Trinidad and Tobago took place on May 24, 1971. The election to the House of Representatives took place six months before the regular date, as the parliament, which then comprised 36 members, had been dissolved prematurely.
background
The election campaign began in early May 1971. A total of 58 candidates from three parties were nominated. The ruling party People's National Movement (PNM) of the former Prime Minister Eric Eustace Williams put up candidates in all 36 constituencies of the country, whereby there were no opposing candidates in eight of the constituencies.
In addition to the two opposition parties, the Democratic Liberation Party of Bhadase Maraj , a split from the Democratic Labor Party , and the African National Congress under the leadership of Mr John Broome, which put up 21 and 7 candidates, respectively, two independent candidates stood for election. The main opposition party, the Democratic Labor Party led by Vernon Jamada , the opposition leader in the previous legislature , had decided to boycott the elections. This was in protest at Parliament's refusal to carry out the electoral reforms demanded by the party. So she called for a lowering of the voting age to 18 years, better kept electoral lists and the replacement of voting machines with ballot boxes.
Under the title Perspectives for a New Society , the ruling party PNM had published a paper in which it had adopted some of the issues represented by the Black Power movement . These included the establishment of cooperatives and the fight against unemployment.
Election result
The campaign was quiet compared to the pre-election period, when there were a number of demonstrations by supporters of the Black Power movement. It was expected that the current opposition parties could win some seats, but the ruling party won all seats and was the only party represented in parliament.
On May 28, 1971, the new government was inaugurated under Prime Minister Eric Williams.
| Political party | Number of votes | Seats | change |
|---|---|---|---|
| People's National Movement (PNM) | 99,770 | 36 | +12 |
| Democratic Liberation Party | 14,891 | 0 | −12 |
| African National Congress (ANC) | 2,861 | 0 | ± 0 |
| Independent | 2,997 | 0 | ± 0 |