By Sue-Ann Wayow
TRINIDAD and Tobago needs change away from the two major political parties, the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC).
Political leaders of newer political parties have rejected the call by UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to join forces with her party to oust the PNM from Government.
AZP News spoke with three leaders on Tuesday following Persad-Bissessar’s repeated suggestion of unity, asking if they would be heeding her call.
Joining is more lazy politics
Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) political leader Phillip Alexander said, “Joining up with the UNC is more lazy politics… That is more lesser evil politics. That is more of the same change exchange nonsense. Trinidad needs change. It needs change away from the PMN and the UNC.”
He said, “We the people of Trinidad and Tobago have to realise that moving from Party A to Party B and back to Party A, it doesn’t help us. It does nothing to fix the country. We stay stuck in the same cycle, in the same one percent contract mafia continues to feast on the treasury and now they in the taxpayers’ pockets.”
With massive taxes being paid by citizens, Alexander said they were holding on by their fingertips and fingernails and barely surviving.
“PNM and UNC and UNC and PNM is not the solution,” he said.
With Persad-Bissessar making a public appeal for people to join her in her fight against the PNM, Alexander said that was disrespectful and likened her to “throwing a fish net,” to catch people.
He said if Persad-Bissessar was serious about having discussions, arrangements would already have been made to meet with him to discuss important issues, adding that he would have been willing to do so at an earlier date.
Alexander said, “But now, it is far too late for that.”
His party was already uniting with a lot of good people, with the business community and workers in large groups he told AZP News.
Alexander said, “We are going to mobolise this country so that every single citizen in Trinidad and Tobago could get the change that all of us know we really need.”
Persad-Bissessar cannot be trusted
Political leader of the Trinidad and Tobago Democratic Front (TTDF) Anthony Williams said Persad-Bissessar could not be trusted.
“They would always have to be above the smaller parties.If you as a small man, looking better than them, they looking to cut you down because they need to look like the saviour,” he said.
Williams agreed with Alexander’s statements that the UNC was not serious about nation development.
He said other political parties would simply be used as political tools and for media coverage.
Williams did say that he would be willing to talk with other UNC representatives for development in Point Fortin where his party is based mentioning councillor for Cedros Shankar Teelucksingh as “one of the more decent ones.”
He also said serious discussions about unification should have taken place months ago and not mere weeks before the Local Government Election.
Unite nation, not parties
And political leader of the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) Gary Griffith said, “We have seen too much hatred, division, victimisation and intimidation in the last eight years. Let the focus not be seen as simply uniting of parties. Let the common goal be that of uniting the nation. It starts now.”
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