The People's National Movement led by Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning has retained its hold on power following Monday's general election. In what's already being seen as a convincing victory, (results are still preliminary) the ruling party is projected to have won 26 of the 41 seats at stake. The main opposition, United National Congress Alliance(UNC) secured the other 15. That leaves the new Congress of the People(COP) without a seat in its first outing at the polls. It was the first time that parties were vying for 41 seats. The Trinidad and Tobago parliament had been made up of 36 seats since independence in 1962. The number was increased to 41 following an 18-18 tie between the PNM and the UNC in the last election in 2002. A record 990,000 people had registered to vote. Trinidad and Tobago has a population of 1.3 million (UN, 2005). Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com