Trinidad and Tobago to hold its local government elections on December 02

Trinidad and Tobago to hold its local government elections on December 02, in which four political parties candidates will contest on 139 electoral districts across 14 municipal corporation electoral areas.

Over the last several weeks, the country has been blasted with political messages on radio, television and social media and mass rallies.

In the decades leading up to freedom in 1962, calypsonians played a crucial role in documenting and opposing the colonial policy.

Just prior to and after freedom, “loyalist” calypsonians such as the Mighty Sparrow and Duke helped legitimise the fledgling political campaign led by Dr Eric Williams.

The thrust and parry remain to this day, with party supporters facing off against establishment analysts in the yearly calypso sovereign race, and chutney performers injecting the East Indian point of view into the national mix.

Soca, calypso’s more upbeat heir, may seem on the surface to be less politicised than calypso, but the kind and its practitioners have also been pretty agreeable to political use.

Soca songs are often repurposed to communicate political party messages, and vocalists punch profitable deals with political parties to create campaign songs and perform at rallies.

For the East Indian political parties, calypso and soca have also given a means of recognising with the customs and interests of Afro-Trinidadian voters.