The Democratic National Assembly (DNA) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
. The party is meant to serve as a "third force" is society, providing a "non-tribal" alternative to the ruling
United National Congress
The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago. The UNC is a Centre-left politics, centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unio ...
and the
Opposition People's National Movement. The party symbol is a
flat topped pyramid.
At present the officers in the party are: Ms Dara Healy- Chairman, Kirk Meighoo- Political Leader Trinidad, Colin Coker- Political Leader Tobago, Hugh Wooding Thomas- Secretary, Stephen Leonce- Strategy and Campaign Director and Anthony Pinto- Special advisor.
The party was launched in March, 2006, founded by
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
Kirk Meighoo and businessman
Anthony Pinto. It was formed after the dissolution of the
Committee for Transformation and Progress headed by Meighoo, and incorporated the ''Civilian Oversight Organisation'' and other groups.
[ Pires, B.C.]
A modern Trinidadian democracy
, ''Trinidad Express
The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is ...
''March 12, 2006.
At first the party was a member of the
Democratic National Alliance a coalition of minor parties under the leadership of
Gerald Yetming
Gerald Yetming (葉明 born 4 January 1945) is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and businessman. Since 2002, he has been the member of parliament representing the constituency of Saint Joseph in the House of Representatives of Trinidad and Toba ...
, then Independent,
Member of Parliament for
St. Joseph. However, in a statement on Thursday 29 June 2006, the Democratic National Assembly said "it had taken a principled decision that it will no longer be pursuing and alliance with either the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) or Mr. Gerald Yetming or the Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago (DPTT)", effectively splitting the coalition of the three entities.
On 12 September 2006, two DNA founders, Afra Raymond and Novack George, were expelled from the party.
On 3 October 2006 Meighoo resigned as a UWI lecturer to lead the DNA full-time.
In the 2007 General Elections, the DNA leader Meighoo joined the UNC alliance, and fought the
Chaguanas
The Borough of Chaguanas is the largest municipality (83,489 at the 2011 census) and fastest-growing
– Afr ...
East seat.
In the 5 November 2007
parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
, the party won 0.01% and no seats.
[See for more information ]2007 Trinidad and Tobago general election
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 5 November 2007. Nomination day was 15 October. Five parties contested the elections; the ruling People's National Movement, the official opposition United National Congress–Alliance (a co ...
.
References
* Lal-Beharie, Gregory
DNA axes Yetming ''
Trinidad Express
The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is ...
'', July 1, 2006
{{Trinidad and Tobago political parties
Political parties in Trinidad and Tobago