COP wants Jack to put UNC house in order before unity talks

Two high profile members of the Congress of the People are interested in talking with Jack Warner about opposition unity but both of them want the UNC deputy leader to first put his house in order. Anand Ramlogan insists that UNC leader Basdeo Panday is the biggest threat to unity and COP Deputy Chairperson Hulsie Bhaggan says unity is based on a principled negotiation process.

Warner has been talking about two principal issues: a united opposition and a modernized, proactive UNC. He has insisted that he has no quarrel with Panday but at the same time he wants the former prime minister to use his political experience to shake up the party and get things moving.

For his part Panday has said the party is not dormant and he has rejected Warner's call for internal elections now, saying that the UNC's National Executive has taken a decision that the election would be held after the local government election. The government has postponed that vote twice and it is now expected in mid-2009.

Ramlogan, who was a strong UNC supporter before he joined the COP, believes the time is right for unity within the opposition. But he believes that Panday would torpedo any effort that doesn't fit into his agenda.

“The political ground is fertile and receptive to unity", Ramlogan told the Trinidad Guardian, adding that, "Elections have strengthened that situation since it became clear the PNM cannot be dislodged unless there’s a united Opposition.”

The prominent human rights lawyer said he is ready to talk with Warner and agreed with Warner's fears that the UNC would become irrelevant unless it embraces change. However his own fears are that Panday won't buy into the idea.

Ramlogan suggested that it is now clear that those who oppose the PNM and the Manning regime are on the same wavelength and ready for change. But he said the real question is whether Panday is or would come on board.

And he claimed that Panday is rejecting internal elections in the UNC because he fears he might lose his hold on the party.

Ramlogan is confident that Warner can make the difference the country needs. "He is an asset to politics rather than the other way around,” Ramlogan told the paper adding that Warner's FIFA connections make him more powerful than the prime minister.

He said Warner should have a leadershiop role in ANY opposition to the PNM. However he is cautious about whether a new political organization led by Warner would succeed.

Using the COP experience Ramlogan noted that his party was unable to mobilize the swing vote, despite its best effort. In that context he sees a united opposition as the real answer. And he believes it must start with internal elections within the UNC.

Bhaggan is also a former UNC member who fell out with Panday. She challenged Panday in his Couva North constituency in the last election and placed third behind the PNM candidate, rookie politician Nal Ramsingh.

Bhaggan made it clear that the matter of unity involving the COP cannot and will not be made by any individual or small group. But she believes there is a logical starting point. “Even if we don’t always agree on some things initially, we seek input on issues before decisions are made,” she said.

“Our executive and council have no information on anyone talking to Warner, so whoever he’s talking to may be lower-level persons who cannot make decisions for COP", she said.

And she appeared uncertain if Warner's moves are his personal initiatives or his party's. She told the Guardian there are many unanswered questions and that's why Warner needs to get his house in order before attempting to unite the opposition.

She noted that within the UNC, Warner supported and stood with Winston Dookeran when Dookeran ran for the leadership of the UNC and won unchallenged.

Warner ditched Dookeran in the internal bickering that followed the vote and and supported Panday. The result was the UNC Alliance that won 15 seats in the last election; COP, which Dookeran formed after leaving the UNC, got strong support, mainly from disenchanted UNC supporters, but didn't win a seat.

COP Leader Winston Dookeran has talked about the need for unity in the context of what he calls a national consensus. But he has not responded directly to a public call from Panday to bury the political hatchet and work toward uniting all opposition group.

Read related story: Panday seeks unity; holds out olive branch to COP

The only response has come from COP chairman Roy Augustus who rejected the idea outright but then said he was not speaking on behalf of the party.