While some in the United National Congress (UNC) suspect the party lost the Indian Walk/Lengua district because Muslims were too busy to vote during Eid-ul-Adha celebrations, political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says this is no excuse for their defeat.
Speaking to Guardian Media last Friday, Ragoonath noted that the PNM increased voter turnout by over thirty per cent, particularly in two polling divisions where they have consistently led in both local and general elections.
He explained that although Eid observance may have kept some Muslims from voting, it would have affected Muslim PNM voters as well. Concluding that the UNC had clearly lost ground, Ragoonath said Eid-ul-Adha was not a major reason for this defeat.
However, Moruga MP Michelle Benjamin argued that in four polling divisions—traditional strongholds for the UNC—there was low voter turnout. She said 75 per cent of the population in these four polling divisions were Muslims, and feedback from her voters suggested that people were too busy to vote.
She said, "Election day fell on June 17 when our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrated Eid ul Adhar. When we look at the data we found that our Muslim base did not come out because they were involved in religious practices."
She explained that those who performed animal sacrifices spent the day distributing meat, as a third of the meat is usually shared with the underprivileged, and Muslims travel to distribute it.
Benjamin also claimed that the PNM leveraged extensive resources in the district to capture votes.
"They did a WASA project in Samuel Cooper, which is a polling division that supports the PNM. They also brought people out by giving 1,600 hampers. The Housing Minister also came down and distributed grants totalling $1.7 million. So basically, they fooled the people, mined the votes, and used State funds to campaign," Benjamin claimed.
She noted that the voter turnout was as high as it would be for a general election. She claimed another factor that pulled Muslim votes was the completion of a Muslim cemetery in Barrackpore.
However, Benjamin said the PNM did not gain new ground. "When you look at the seven polling divisions, you will see two of them don’t support the UNC. The PNM has not gotten new voters; all they did was use a strategy to get their voters out to vote. They also put elections on the same day as Eid-ul-Adha and ramped up the turnout of voters," she said.
Asked whether the internal UNC elections had hindered the party's victory in the by-elections, Benjamin said this was also a factor. "Everyone would have their champions, and I don't think there was enough time to heal, to unite, and to fight the PNM jointly," she added.
Meanwhile, a source at the Perry Young ASJA Masjid agreed that some Muslims could not vote. He said after a two-hour prayer session, some Muslims made animal sacrifices and had to distribute meat to people in several areas.
At the Lengua Islamic TIA Masjid, a source also agreed that some Muslims could not vote because they were too busy with the observance. But several other Muslims, who requested anonymity, said prayers finished at the mosque at about 9 am, and there was sufficient time for people to vote if they really wanted to do so.