TRINIDAD & TOBAGO GENERAL ELECTION Landslide: Kamla Persad-Bissessar is new Prime Minister You wait many years for a Coalition Government and then two come along in the same month. Kamla Persad-Bissesessar, 58 years old, has led the People’s Partnership coalition of opposition parties to victory over the Peoples National Movement of long-serving Prime Minister Patrick Manning by a landslide 29-12 victory in Trinidad & Tobago. She now joins the ranks of Caribbean women’s prime ministers after Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica (1980-95), Janet Jagan (1997 until her election as president the same year), and Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica (2006-07). It is exactly four months since Ms Persad-Bissessar achieved crushing victory in ousting veteran former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday as leader of the United National Congress, the largest party in the coalition with 22 seats. The People’s Partnership won several constituencies in which they had been beaten as individual parties at the last General Election in 2007. Mr Manning had called the election somewhat surprisingly at a time of deepening unpopularity and a wave of criticism and scandal with two and a half years of his term still to run on the before Ms Persad-Bissessar had scheduled to debate a motion of no confidence. It was the second time he had called an early election ... the previous occasion had been in 1995 .... and the second time it had been unsuccessful. The new Prime Minister, who is married with one son, is a former Attorney-General and Minister of Education. She exhorted her supporters, and re-assured the ethnically-diverse electorate that they had nothing from a party which had its origins in the Indo-Caribbean community. “Be not afraid of today’s victory. Those of you who did not find to support us, from today onwards, understand and know there is only one nation, there is only one people, so be not afraid”. Mr Manning who has led the PNM since 1987 took full responsibility for the debacle of losing 14 of the 26 seats it held. “Tomorrow we will begin an analysis of how things went ... One of the things I have to consider is my future in politics ... I assure you of one thing – that the best decision would be taken in the interest of the People’s National Movement.” He confirmed that his resignation was “very much on the cards now”.            The outgoing Prime Minister admitted that he had been surprised by the result as the high turn-out with queues at the polling-stations had been considered to favour his PNM. “I have to tell you the results came as somewhat a surprise to me. We had every reason to believe that we would have been successful – but it just didn’t work that way”. He observed on the successful coalition. “I look forward to the new arrangements that are going to involve in our country. We express reservations about coalition governments. But let’s see. Let’s see how things work out”. Much the same could be said of the United Kingdom’s own new government.