Duke backs TPP: When Farley wins, we win

PDP political leader Watson Duke. - File photo

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke has thrown his support behind the Tobago People's Party (TPP) for the January 12 THA elections.

At a media conference on December 8 in Scarborough, Duke said, "If Farley wins, we win. We are one."

The PDP won the last THA elections 14-1, but a public spat between Duke and Chief Secretary Farley Augustine a year later saw a monumental split in the party. Augustine and 12 other PDP assemblymen quit and formed the TPP.

The PDP failed to make an impact at the April 28 general election with Duke unsuccessful as the Tobago East candidate.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar later revealed that Duke had asked her for a job.

Duke was one of the attendees at a reception on November 4 at the Prime Minister's official residence in Blenheim, Tobago, after Persad-Bissessar had earlier presented Augustine with an export licence for the Studley Park.

Persad-Bissessar greeted Duke and another TPP official at the residence, saying, "We have the flambeau (PDP symbol) and we have the anchor (TPP symbol)."