Who is popular today?

In the wake of news that Watson Duke retained his seat as leader of the Public Services Association (PSA) two candidates have expressed some interest in meeting and discussing the possibility of co-operation after their election loss.
Speaking with Newsday on Thursday, leader of the Unified Public Officers Oral Saunders described the results of the election as a "hollow victory" for Duke citing a low voter turnout and irregularities at the polls.
Saunders said while he has no problem accepting defeat, he was concerned over the transparency of the voting process, and questioned the legitimacy of the results.
He said the absence of safeguards to protect the integrity of the process should be a concern to the PSA's membership.
"The voting process was plagued with irregularities and far too many public officers were denied the opportunity to exercise their franchise.
"I could lose in any race, because there must be a winner and a loser, but when the democracy of an organisation is stolen, it is a different ballgame. That, to me, is treason. And for an organisation that has such a rich history to only be able to turn out such meagre numbers is indeed the most hollow victory and is nothing to celebrate."
The results posted on the PSA's Facebook page on Tuesday showed Saunders and his United Public Officers team a distant second to Duke.
Asked what was the next move for his team, Saunders said he hoped the results would be enough to unify other candidates, who he said were also dissatisfied with Duke's leadership.
"The people voted for us, and even the people who voted against Duke collectively are saying they are not satisfied with Mr Duke, and I take consolation in that maybe, with statistics in front of these leaders, we will be able to move forward once and for all in unity.
"What I can say with some certainty is that all of the candidates are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was indeed a stolen election and that is a powerful statement to make, because it shows why there was a need for us to revisit the election process."
Newsday also spoke to leader of Team Sentinel Nixon Callender who said he has already been in contact with other candidates who were disappointed in Duke's leadership for discussions on the PSA's next course of action and said, despite their differences, he was still open to co-operating with other members.
Describing Duke's victory as a "tragedy" Callender said low voter turnout suggested the majority of the of the PSA's membership did not care about effective bargaining and workplace benefits.
"The low voter turnout has sent a very loud signal to the employer that workers simply don't care about their business.
"It's a message that no group of workers, especially public officers, should be sending to employers, because those figures tell employers you all (workers) don't care about a job evaluation, you all don't care about the wage negotiations.
"It also sends a signal to the employees of the PSA who would have been treated badly by the incumbent, Watson Duke, only now to be rewarded with a minority governance in the PSA."
Newsday attempted to contact candidates other candidates Ian Murray, Curtis Cuffie and Gregory Cova for comment but were unsuccessful.
The post Losing PSA candidates respond to Duke’s win appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.