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THE UNC on Tuesday launched a bid to wrest control of the San Fernando City Corporation and Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, by way of requests for recounts in several seats after Monday's local government elections.
Election night saw the UNC and PNM each win seven corporations, resulting in no overall change to the 2019 election result. UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar calculated the party had won the popular vote, that is, more votes than the PNM.
On election night the UNC won four seats out of nine at the San Fernando City Corporation, and by Tuesday had called for a recount in Cocoyea/Tarouba, which, if it were to win, would bring its tally to five seats and give it control of the corporation.
However, the PNM launched a counter-attack by requesting recounts in two seats won by the UNC – Marabella West, which was won by John Michael Ali Bocas (known as "Makamillion"), and Marabella South/Vistabella, which was previously won for the UNC in 2019 by Marcus Girdharrie, who then defected to the PNM, and on Monday at first count lost to the UNC's Sacha Ali.
The UNC likewise made a bid for control of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation. The UNC retained its five out of 16 seats on election night, and by Tuesday had sought recounts in four seats, which, if successful, would give it control of that corporation, with a tally of nine seats.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), in a statement on Tuesday, said it was due to start recounts for 14 seats under dispute, out of the 141 electoral districts in Trinidad which candidates had vied for.
The EBC listed the electoral districts in dispute and the political party of the candidate requesting the recount.
All recounts were due to start at 3 pm on Tuesday at the office of the returning officer of each electoral district where the recount was requested, as previously stated in the EBC's Notices of Election, published in the press under Election Rule 4 of the Representation of the People Act.
Corporations/councils listed for recounts:
The main corporation under review is Tunapuna/Piarco, with four seats: Auzonville/Tunapuna, Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa, Five Rivers and Maracas/Santa Margarita.
San Fernando City Corporation: recounts in three seats: Cocoyea/Tarouba, Marabella West and Marabella South.
Arima Borough Council: Arima North East and Arima West/O'Meara.
Corporations with one recount each: Diego Martin (Bagatelle/Blue Basin), Sangre Grande (Sangre Grande Northeast), San Juan/Laventille (San Juan East), Mayaro/Rio Claro (Mayaro North) and Princes Town (Lengua/Indian Walk).
Districts up for recount:
Arima Northeast (UNC), Arima West/O’Meara (UNC), Auzonville/Tunapuna (UNC), Bagatelle/Blue Basin (UNC), Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa (UNC), Cocoyea/Tarouba (UNC), Five Rivers (UNC), Lengua/Indian Walk (UNC), Marabella West (PNM), Marabella South/Vistabella (PNM), Maracas/Santa Margarita (UNC), Mayaro North (UNC), Sangre Grande Northeast (UNC), and San Juan East (UNC).
The post UNC bids for San Fernando, Tunapuna/Piarco corporations appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.