A day after he replaced Keith Rowley as head of government, Prime Minister Stuart Young named April 28 as general elections day in Trinidad, in a move that is apparently timed to catch opposition parties off guard.

An announcement from the Office of the Prime Minister said authorities have asked ceremonial President Christine Kangaloo to immediately dissolve the 41 member parliament as the twin island federation with Tobago gets ready to vote.

The announcement also came two days after the governing People’s National Movement introduced candidates for all 41 constituencies at a rally in the city on Sunday where Rowley made his last public address as Prime Minister.

Political parties must submit candidates, party logos and paraphernalia on April 4 or nomination day.

The main opposition United National Congress has said it is ready to defeat the PNM with a multi party coalition that is being formed at the moment. The party has also stated that it will not contest the two seats in sister isle, Tobago where it has not done that well over the decades. The party has completed screening of about 200 candidates but is yet to fully unveile its list of candidates as it engages in talks with other parties.

The PNM has won the past two consecutive  elections and says it remains confident it can pull off a third. Elections are not due until the last quarter of the year but it appears that the PNM is attempting to ride on a perceived political high in the aftermath of the retirement of Rowley,75, and the appointment of attorney Young, 50, to win victory. Rowley retired on Sunday night.

Trinidad’s elections is one of more than half a dozen bring held in the CARICOM bloc this year with Suriname,  Guyana,  Jamaica and Curacao still to come following on on  Anguilla, The Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize and Bermuda so far this year.