THE UNC's bid to wrest the San Fernando City Corporation and the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation from the PNM crashed on Wednesday when no major changes occurred after recounts of the preliminary results of last Monday's local government election done by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
The UNC had challenged the preliminary results in one San Fernando seat where the PNM had launched two requests for recounts, while in Tunapuna/Piarco the UNC had sought recounts in four seats, among other challenges nationwide. The EBC issued two statements on recount results.
For San Fernando the first indication the PNM would retain the corporation came at 9.54 am in an EBC statement giving recount results for three seats, which most critically scotched the UNC's bid to tilt the balance of power by snatching an extra seat to increase its tally to a majority from its four seats out of nine won on election night. Incumbent PNM councillor Teresa Lynch in the Cocoyea/Tarouba seat fended off a challenge by the UNC's Shane Samlal who gained one vote in the recount.
The result was PNM 1,207 votes to the UNC's 1,162 votes, a 45 vote margin by Newsday's count.
The UNC for its part had to defend itself from PNM recount challenges to two UNC victories in San Fernando, namely in Marabella West won at the preliminary count by John Michael "Makamillion" Ali Bocas and in Marabella South/Vistabella won by Sasha Ali.
The EBC's morning statement said the EBC recount confirmed Ali as winner. She had unseated former UNC councillor Marcus Girdharrie who had defected to become the PNM candidate. The recount result was UNC 884 to the PNM's 873, with the UNC having lost one vote.
Up to press time on Wednesday no result was forthcoming for Ali Bocas who had told Newsday on Tuesday how confident he was of a win in the recount, given his 29 vote majority in the preliminary result, winning 956 votes to the PNM's Jameela Marryshaw-St Hill's tally of 927.
In a pivotal result, the final result showed that Lynch increased her tally from 1,077 votes in 2019 to 1,207 votes in 2023, while the UNC vote increased from 1,047 to 1,162 over the same period. Both candidates in Cocoyea/Tarouba seat bucked a national trend of a lower turnout relative to 2019.
Lynch told Newsday how hard she hard worked to canvass her electoral district, which she described as the corporation's largest which held one of the country's most diverse electorates. Lynch now enters her third term, in the seat once held by her father Leslie Lynch.
She said,"It was not nerve-wrecking because, for the most part, the win was sure for me. I was just waiting for the due process to take place.
"I am looking forward to continuing to serve the people."
The first EBC recount statement also said that in the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation, the PNM's Ryan Stewart was confirmed in his win in Mayaro North over the UNC's Kristen Townsand. The recount put the PNM tally at 741 votes ahead of the UNC on 720 and the PEP on 43. The recount saw the PNM lose one vote a
