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Caribbean Islands The Post-Williams Era, 1981-86
After Williams's death, the PNM appointed Chambers to succeed
him as prime minister and as party leader in the 1981 elections.
Chambers had entered PNM politics in 1966 and had served the
government as head of several ministries in succeeding years. One
of the main factors in Chambers's selection was that, as a black
Trinidadian, he was more acceptable as prime minister than two more
senior East Indian PNM ministers, Kamaluddin Mohammed and Errol
Mahabir, both of whom remained in Chambers's cabinet.
The 1981 election marked the appearance of a new political
party, the Organization for National Reconstruction (ONR). The ONR,
led by former PNM prime minister Hudson-Phillips, attacked
government inefficiency and called for a rollback of "massive state
capitalism." The party attempted to appeal to a cross section of
voters, including black and East Indian workers as well as all
groups in the middle class. In addition, three opposition parties--
the ULF, the DAC, and Tapia House (a reformist party of
intellectuals and the middle class)--attempted to form an electoral
coalition appropriately termed the Alliance. The coalition
fragmented over ethnic divisions, however.
Chambers campaigned on the PNM party record, pointing with
pride to twenty-five years of accomplishments in education,
housing, and culture and to the prosperous economy. Although only
30 percent of the registered voters voted for the PNM, the party
once again won, getting over half the vote and taking two seats
from the ULF to win a total of twenty-six out of the thirty-six
seats in the House of Representatives. The ULF lost ground,
receiving only 15 percent of the vote and retaining only eight of
its ten seats; the DAC kept its two Tobagonian seats. Because of
the winner-take-all rule, neither the ONR nor the Alliance won any
seats despite the fact that the ONR received nearly a quarter of
the popular vote. Observers attributed the PNM victory in 1981 to
healthy economic conditions, poor organization by the opposition,
and a fear of unknown and untried parties.
Chambers's five-year rule as prime minister was plagued by
economic and political problems (see Role of Government, this ch.).
He had ridden in on a wave of prosperity but was defeated five
years later by an economic downturn. Oil prices fell in 1982 and
1983, and the oil industry, faced with lower revenues, forced
concessions from the OWTU. Oil layoffs increased unemployment, and
the 1982 sugar crop was below target level, compounding the
problem. The government ran a deficit in 1982 for the first time in
many years. During the oil boom, the PNM government had subsidized
many consumer items, especially food and transport. Chambers
reduced these subsidies, resulting in significant increases in food
and transport prices.
Chambers changed many controversial government-to-government
arrangements under which Williams had invited foreign governments
to engage in development projects using their own companies. The
foreign contractors had had frequent cost overruns and had angered
local producers by sometimes refusing to work with local materials
and local personnel. Chambers was also faced with the aircraft
purchase and racetrack complex corruption scandals involving
officials of Williams's government.
Hoping to reduce imports, the government instituted a system of
import licensing in November 1983. This caused much criticism from
other Caricom members because Trinidad and Tobago absorbed half of
the intraregional trade (see External Sector, this ch.). Despite
these efforts, foreign reserves continued to dwindle.
By the time of the 1983 municipal elections, PNM support had
seriously eroded. With an eye on the elections, Chambers raised the
salaries of 52,000 public workers, thereby increasing government
expenditure by 76 percent. Despite this action, the ONR and the
Alliance joined forces to win a total of 66 of the 120 municipal
seats, the first opposition victory since 1958. The PNM also lost
disastrously in the 1984 elections for the Tobago House of
Assembly. That contest, which became a personal clash between
Robinson and Chambers, resulted in the DAC's winning eleven out of
fifteen seats.
The PNM was under heavy criticism by the time parliamentary
elections were called for December 15, 1986. The opposition
coalesced in the NAR, formed earlier in the year. The four parties
comprising the NAR included the three that had formed the Alliance
in 1981--the ULF, the DAC, and Tapia House--and the ONR. These four
included a wide spectrum of Trinidadian political views: the ULF,
headed by Basdeo Panday, president of the ATSE/FWTU, represented
the indigenous working class and was mainly East Indian and left of
center; Robinson's DAC primarily represented Tobagonian interests;
Tapia House was a small intellectual party under the leadership of
Lloyd Best; and the ONR, led by Hudson-Phillips, was largely middle
class and right of center. Robinson was chosen head of the NAR, and
Hudson-Phillips and Panday became deputy leaders.
Campaigning under the slogan "one love," the NAR issued a broad
appeal to all ethnic groups. Robinson cited details of government
corruption that the PNM was not able to dispel. Surprisingly, in
response to a question at a political rally about corruption, a PNM
candidate replied, "we are all thieves." Robinson promised to name
an Integrity Commission, as provided by the Constitution, and to
create a Register of Gifts to keep track of gifts to cabinet
ministers. He also outlined a massive campaign to improve
employment and promised to publish a report on drugs that had been
suppressed by the government (see National Security, this ch.).
Deputy leader Panday said that a NAR government would concentrate
on divestment of some state enterprises.
The 1986 election was remarkable, for both voter participation
and results. In the highest voter turnout (63 percent) in twenty
years, the NAR captured 67 percent of the vote and won a stunning
33 out of the 36 seats in the House of Representatives. Most of the
NAR seats were won by large margins, even in districts where the
PNM candidates were cabinet ministers. Chambers was swept out of
office with the tide. Despite losing almost all of its seats, the
PNM, according to subsequent analysis of the election, retained
almost half the votes of the black community. Although middle- and
upper-middle-class blacks voted for the NAR, less affluent blacks
stayed loyal to the PNM. Much of the NAR strength came from East
Indian votes. Patrick Manning, one the three representatives who
had survived the 1986 elections, was chosen to head the PNM.
Data as of November 1987
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