General Elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 16 December 1991 for all 36 seats in the House of Representatives.

Electoral System

The 36 members of the House of Representatives are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting. There is no fixed election date in effect in Trinidad and at this time; hence, the choice of election date is the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

Political Parties & Candidates

A total of 141 candidates and four political parties contested the election.

Campaign

The election date was set in November 1991. The main campaign issues were the controversial economic austerity plan introduced by the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) Government, the high rate of unemployment, the escalation in the crime rate, the deterioration of the public utilities and the alienation and pauperisation of the majority of the population.

Results

The polling brought the People’s National Movement (PNM) to office with 21 of the 36 seats in the House of Representatives. The United National Congress (UNC) won the remaining 13 seats.

In the second political change in five years, the PNM rebounded after its defeat in the 1986 elections, in which PNM leader Patrick Manning had been one of only three members to win a seat, the centrist NAR taking the other 33. This time, however, the NAR retained only the two Tobago seats - one of them by Mr. A.N.R. Robinson, the outgoing Prime Minister.

Manning was sworn in as new Prime Minister on 17 December and named his 24-member Cabinet a few days later.

For the first time in the country’s history, a woman was appointed as the Speaker - Miss Occah Seapaul.

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout was 67.77%.