Vanessa Buschschlüter (BBC News) reports on the recent victory for the United National Congress (UNC), led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who will be appointed as the next prime minister.

The opposition in the Caribbean twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago has won a decisive victory in Monday’s parliamentary election, preliminary results suggest.

The win by the centrist United National Congress (UNC) party means that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will be appointed as the next prime minister. The 73-year-old already held the post once before, from 2010 to 2015, but her party was defeated in the last two elections by the centre-left People’s National Movement (PNM).

Preliminary results suggest the UNC, which campaigned on a promise to raise wages and create employment, managed to win a number of parliamentary seats previously held by the PNM.

PNM leader Keith Rowley conceded defeat late on Monday, saying that it had not been a good night for his party and that it was clear that it had lost the election.

Rowley, 75, served as prime minister from 2015 to March of this year, when he announced he was stepping down and handing the reins of power to the 50-year-old energy minister, Stuart Young. But rather than serving out the remainder of Rowley’s term, Young called a snap election just hours after being sworn in as prime minister.

The move was widely seen as an attempt by Young to secure a stronger mandate amid criticism by the opposition that his elevation to prime minister was unconstitutional. [. . .]

During her campaign, Persad-Bissessar promised to raise wages for public sector workers who have been struggling to meet rising costs of living. [. . .]

For full article, see https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx284988058o