Political maturity in opposition in T&T
October 22, 2009
EDITOR: The recent dropping of charges against UNC's "dissident MPs" and the meeting between UNC and COP representatives speak volumes as to the road to political maturity on the part of opposition parties in T&T.
In this era of democratically-elected dictatorship in T&T, both the UNC and COP must clearly realize and understand that their only enemy is the PNM. They must cease and desist from creating enemies within their own ranks if they are to remove the PNM government from office.
These political entities should reflect upon the fact that they lost the November 2007 general elections because they split the national votes separately among themselves; in other words, if they had contested against the PNM under one banner and combined their votes, then, the PNM would have been defeated.
This mathematical calculation is not advanced calculus; it is simple political reality. Numbers do not lie.
The UNC and COP need to extricate themselves from this 15th century Euro-centric ploy of Divide & Rule. This is exactly what they inflicted upon themselves in 2007 and thus presented the governance of T&T to Patrick Manning and the PNM on a silver platter.
Now is the time for opposition parties to come together as One to remove the PNM.
Citizens are sick and tired of being "hoodwinked, bamboozled and took" by the PNM for the past 53 years and counting. Enough is enough is their battle cry today.
Now is the time to stop this national bleeding. T&T is hemorrhaging in the North, South, East and West with no cure or remedy in sight under the PNM. Enough is enough.
Indeed, space does not permit this writer to delineate all the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and intractable problems that affect and afflict the citizens of T&T 24-7-365.
The ruling Manning government does not seem to have the slightest clue as to how to proceed to solve these problems. Tall buildings and the holding of international conferences in T&T are not the solution— removal of the PNM government is the solution.
The Manning government has decided to turn its back on We the People. The Manning government has decided to turn its political venom on the labour movement, its hard-working/tax-paying members and Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
And the final nail in this dictatorial coffin is the imposition of the inhumane, vindictive and deleterious property tax on We the People.
Now is the time for We the People in the different opposition political parties, labour movement, academia and concerned citizens to join forces and send a very clear political message to Patrick Manning and the PNM government that We the People have had enough of their perennial mammaguy, pappyshow and congosa. Enough is enough.
In the final analysis, We the People must decide on three things: (1) The Manning-PNM government has to go beginning with local government elections (2) We the People brought the PNM into office, ipso facto, We the People will use the electoral process to take the PNM out of office and (3) PNM is not all that great. We the People are greater and more powerful. Only a united, solidified and committed We the People political front will make the PNM government fall.
Co-operation, not divisiveness and competition, among the national opposition body politic is the only potent power to bring down the PNM government.
Dr. Kwame Nantambu,
Diego Martin.
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