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PNM Government Condemned in Trinidad & Tobago

November 23, 2008

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Trinidad & Tobago are unhappy with the administration led by the People’s National Movement (PNM), according to a poll by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA). 62 per cent of respondents disapprove of the current government, while 21 per cent approve of it.

Trinidad & Tobago held a legislative election in November 2007. Final results gave the PNM 26 of the 41 seats at stake, two seats short of the "super majority" required to push constitutional amendments without the support of the opposition. The United National Congress (UNC) won the remaining 15 mandates, and the Congress of the People (COP) was shut out. Patrick Manning retained his post as prime minister.

On Nov. 17, Trinidad and Tobago’s Central Bank revised down its economic growth forecast to 3.5 per cent this year and 2.0 per cent in 2009. Central Bank governor Ewart Williams declared: "The contagion [from the global economic slowdown] is coming largely as a result of decline in oil and gas prices and falling demand for energy based products, oil, steel and petrochemicals."

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the governing People’s National Movement (PNM) is running the country?

Approve

21%

Disapprove

62%

Not sure

17%

Source: North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA)
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 392 Trinidad & Tobago adults, conducted in November 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.