POLITICAL scientist Derek Ramsamooj believes the division between the two main opposition parties in Tobago – the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) – and the addition of several new ones could allow the People’s National Movement (PNM) to retain the Tobago East seat in the April 28 general election.

“What we must consider is whether the two Opposition parties, the PDP, led by Watson Duke and the TPP, led by Farley Augustine, that that internal competitiveness within the opposition to the PNM can facilitate the PNM holding on to the Tobago East seat. So an opposition that is further divided will augur well for the PNM to hold the Tobago East seat in the general election,” he told Sunday Newsday.

Some five political parties are contesting the seat in the upcoming poll. The candidates, including the PNM’s former Tobago East MP Ayanna Webster-Roy, filed their nomination papers on April 4 at the John Dial Multipurpose Facility.