By: Staff Writer
April 29, 2025
The United National Congress (UNC), led by its leader, Kamla Persad-Bisessar, secured victory at the April 28 general elections in Trinidad and Tobago, ousting the incumbent People’s National Movement, led by Prime Minister Stuart Young.
Young, who was newly elected in just March of this year after replacing Dr Keith Rowley, who chose to retire rather than complete his second term, said he was “disappointed,” by the loss.
Rowley, who now serves as the political leader of the PNM, vows to help rebuild the party.
Asked whether he bore any responsibility for the loss, Rowley said, “I don’t think many votes were cast based on the fact that I resigned.”
On the other hand, the UNC’s triumph was built on a groundswell of public discontent and a meticulously executed social media and promotional campaign that broke through long-standing political barriers of race, class and geography.
Persad-Bisessar will be prime minister for a second time, and lead into Parliament a group of incumbents, new faces, and several coalition partners.
With this victory, Persad-Bissesar has become the first Indo-Trinidadian to hold the highest role in office twice. Her win has toppled the People’s National Movement (PNM) from government after a decade in power. It follows a contentious election cycle marked by major cabinet shifts and the ruling party abruptly calling for elections after former Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s stepping down and succession by a prospective Stuart Young.
“First let me thank Almighty God. We have had a very very clean campaign, very strong campaign. I feel very confident of a very good result,” said the 73-year-old Persad Bissessar.
“Let me thank the people of Siparia and at this time I can declare Siparia safely won. So I can declare the first seat in this election,” she said, adding that the feed back from the other constituencies “is very very good.”
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” the Bisessar said. “When UNC wins, we all win.”
She had campaigned on promises of higher public wages, and described the election to be “for the mother walking the aisles of the grocery store with her children, always with a pen, a pencil, or a calculator in hand because food prices keep rising and she has to keep tabs on what she can buy.”