By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE People’s National Movement (PNM) has moved from a brilliant leader in its founder Dr Eric Williams to Prime Minister Stuart Young, one of the least brilliant of leaders.
Anil Roberts, one of the main spokespersons in support of the United National Congress (UNC), said on Friday night, it was an atrocity for the PNM to have Young as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, decades later.
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He was speaking at a community meeting at the Arima North Secondary School on Friday and admitted while he was not a fan of the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, he was one of the nation’s brightest men.
Roberts said, “At the beginning, one cannot say that Dr Williams was not intelligent. He went to Oxford. He was one of the smartest men in the world; that is true. He wrote some landmark works, and he was absolutely brilliant.”
He said, “So imagine the PNM has moved from the brilliance of Dr Williams to a dunce called Stuart Young.”
He told supporters that a prime minister was responsible for so many aspects of their daily lives and questioned why anyone would want to trust Young with the nation’s future.
“A prime minister has awesome responsibility and power, how could we give that power to a dunce?” Roberts asked. Roberts said politics was all about heart and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had a heart for country and people unlike Young.
“The difference between Kamla and Stuart is that Kamla has a heart. And Kamla leads with heart,” he said.
Campaign toll, candidate grateful for support
Candidate for Arouca/Lopinot Dr Natalie Chaitan-Maharaj also spoke giving a personal story. She said when she began her campaign walk on Friday evening, she was not well.
“We have been, going at 100, hitting the ground every day, twice a day on Saturdays and it is taking a toll even on the best of us. I started my walk even before the music started playing. Once we started gathering, my constituents came out. They came out and they asked if we had jerseys. We gave them the jerseys and they put them on and they joined the walk with us.”
Dr Chaitan-Maharaj said, “Seeing the support. Seeing the ground rising for us, it gives me the strength and today, my constituents healed this doctor. They gave me the strength to continue to cover the ground that we need to do, to meet the people and to make the change.”
The meeting was chaired by UNC candidate for St Augustine Khadijah Ameen.
