Sawt Falasteen - Opposition leader confirmed winner of Trinidad elections

Persad-Bissessar's United National Congress party won 26 of the 41 seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives, ahead of outgoing prime minister Stuart Young's center-left People's National Movement (PNM), which took 13 seats, according to the preliminary results.

Turnout in the twin-island nation of 1.4 million people, best known for its carnival and sandy beaches, stood at 54 percent.

The final seat tally could change slightly.

Several parties, including the UNC, which had been hoping to secure an outright majority, have demanded recounts, but Young, crucially, did not challenge his rival's victory.

Once the recounts have been completed President Christine Kangaloo will ask Persad-Bissessar, 73, to form a new government.

Claiming victory on Monday, the country's prime minister from 2010 to 2015 told supporters: "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Former energy minister Young took over as prime minister in March when party colleague Keith Rowley stepped down after 10 years in the job to make way for new blood.

Rowley on Monday conceded defeat on behalf of the PNM.

"Tonight is not a good night for the PNM, but it might be a good night for Trinidad and Tobago," he told local media, lauding the organization of the election and the turnout.

Persad-Bissessar's uppermost challenges will be to bring down violent crime rates and revive the sputtering economy.

A total of 623 murders were recorded last year -- up from 577 in 2023 -- some of them blamed on Latin America-based criminal gangs like Tren de Aragua from nearby Venezuela.

According to a US Department of State report from March, the murder rate of 37 per 100,000 people made Trinidad and Tobago the sixth most dangerous nation in the world last year.

The Caribbean's second-largest producer of natural gas has also been battling an economic downturn due partly to a decline in gas production.

It had been banking on developing the Dragon gas field in Venezuelan waters, but had its licence revoked by the administration of US President Donald Trump as part of its sanctions on Venezuela.

J.Saleh--SF-PST