JUST three months after being chosen as T&T’s first female Opposition Leader, Ms. Kamla Persad Bissessar is on the verge of creating history again today in being elected her country’s first female Prime Minister (PM). Just a month before, Kamla, as she is popularly known, successfully toppled the charismatic Basdeo Panday as leader of the UNC in a landslide victory in the party’s internal elections retiring him from active politics.  Now, there is a widespread perception that she is set to retire the incumbent Prime Minister and PNM leader Patrick Manning as “Kamlamania fever” spreads all over the twin island republic. More and more voters all over the twin island are talking about “time for political change”, similar to the change atmosphere in the US in 2008.
Opinion surveys conducted by the polling and research organisation, NACTA, over the last six weeks has consistently showed Kamla outpolling Manning as the choice for Prime Minister and the Kamla-led Peoples Partnership leading the PNM in popular support.  Other polls also show similar findings but in varying numbers.
The latest poll shows half of the country backs Kamla as Prime Minister over Manning who is attracting only 38%. Even many supporters of the ruling PNM like the idea of a female PM and have indicated they are willing to support Kamla as P.M. There is a very strong anti-Manning sentiment in the country with voters saying they are fed up of him and that he has to go even making a soca tune with that title.
Voters want to punish Manning for what they perceive as squandering the resources of the nation. Even many supporters of the ruling PNM want to see the back of Manning. Thus, not surprisingly, Kamla is attracting some PNM supporters who say they are willing to give her a chance to change the politics of T&T. Some have come on board Kamla’s camp publicly and others are silently backing Kamla.
In terms of political support, the UNC-led Peoples Partnership leads the PNM by a whopping 10% attracting 53% to the PNM’s 43%.
The battle for the 41 seats in parliament remains tight but the opposition coalition has the edge because voters are fed up with the incumbent and the winds of change are blowing over the Trinidad ranges and plains. Voters are anxious to give T&T its first female P.M and a chance to lead the government.
The coalition goes into the elections with 15 seats and the poll shows the coalition successfully defending all 15 seats and now leads in 19 seats to the PNM’s 18 with four seats too tight with 2 leaning each way.  Although several seats are very close, the momentum is on the side of the coalition because of the mantra of change sweeping the country.  In addition, the coalition had a successful final rally on Saturday attracting tens of thousands of supporters.  The crowd was electrified by Kamla’s stirring appeal to vote for change.  And it would not be impossible for the coalition to pick up a few more seats although that looks more like a dream than political reality.
On the other side, the incumbent Prime Minister defended his government’s record appealing to the PNM’s supporters to give him another term.  That is a tough sell for the majority of the population and may very well be the last hurrah for Patrick Manning although he has assured the nation he will remain P.M for another five years with a comfortable majority.