Warner launches Caravan for Change

Jack Warner on Wednesday launched his mobile caravan to sell his Platform for Change to United National Congress (UNC) supporters and citizens across the country.

And in a direct affront to the the UNC elite, the RAMJACK team made its first stop outside the party's Rienzi headquarters as the UNC held its weekly caucus.

Related: Jack hits the road...

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday has already made his assessment of the situation, declaring the caravan "a circus of clowns".

Panday apologized to supporters again Monday night for embracing Tabaquite MP Ramesh L. Maharaj. "You told me it was wrong. I apologize and ask your forgiveness. It will never happen again," Panday said.

Panday was referring to Maharaj's part in bringing down the UNC government in 2000 within months of winning a majority.

Maharaj and two other UNC MPs - Ralph Maraj and Trevor Sudama - made a pact with then opposition leader Patrick Manning to defeat the Panday government.

Panday pulled the rug from under their feet and called an election, which led to the 18-18 tie that gave President Arthur N.R. Robinson the opportunity to fire Panday and appoint Manning as prime minister.

By 2007 Panday brought back Maharaj to the party in what was then a desperate attempt to forge a united opposition front with the hope of winning the general election.

He might have even pulled it off, had it not been for the stubbornness of Winston Dookeran, the former UNC leader, who insisted that his new Congress of the People (COP) would never do business with the UNC under Panday's leadership.

With the election out of the way and the UNC back in opposition with 15 of the 41 seats Maharaj and Jack Warner began clamouring for change and internal election, which led to the open warfare that the country is now witnessing as both sides try to win the support of the UNc membership.

Panday has faced such challenges before and won, although it is highly debatable about whether he won the round with Maharaj, since the 2001 election put Manning in office and kicked Panday back into opposition.

And although the UNC Alliance won 15 seats in 2007 and the COP none, Dookeran was successful in taking away 100,000 of the votes the UNC won in the previous election.

Still, Panday is in no mood to give up or hand "his" party to anyone. He has famously stated that a party is not something you can just hand to someone.

Both Warner and Maharaj are right in seeking change. Panday is right is protecting his constituency. Both sides are determined to win and both sides are appealing to the people.

The Caravan for Change believes it is holding and ace and can win this game. Panday, on the other hand, believes he can "hang their Jack" with is own ace and run away with the prize. "Hi, low, hang-Jack, game!"

The cards have been shuffled and dealt. Panday is holding several important cards, most important of which is his longevity and his die-hard support from an opposition class that has known no other leader.

But that could be the "jack" that RAMJACK could hang because that constituency is dwindling. And their children and children's children are the new voters who want to see change that involves them. They are not seeing that from the old guard.

Warner has stated repeatedly that he has no fight with Panday, but with the comatose UNC machinery that's holding back progress and putting the party at risk of becoming irrelevant.

Read the transcript of Jack Warner's interview on change in the UNC

He and Maharaj have argued that in its present state the UNC cannot win an election and both of them have said they are not prepared to fight another election to go back to the opposition benches.

The Manifesto for Change is a proposed blueprint for the change that Warner and Maharaj say are necessary.

What they have now embarked on is part of the consultative process that ends later this year at a mass meeting they are planning for UNC members. The meeting, tentatively planned for Sept. 30, will seek the membership's endorsement of the Paltform for Change.

Panday has rejected the whole idea as being absurd and has said Warner and Maharaj are rude and out of place to be convening such a UNC gathering. They disagree, arguing that the party belongs to the people and the members are the only ones who will determine the future.

That's what Panday says as well.

In Panday's past battles, those who opposed him walked away and created their own short-lived political movements; some retired, only to return to be embraced by Panday.

For the first time this recurring opposition battle is an in-house fight. Warner and Maharaj are making a play to take charge of the party, modernize it and prepare for the political war ahead with Patrick Manning and the PNM.

Panday could end this immediately and come out looking good. He could announce that the UNC will hold internal elections and let the people choose their leaders.

The delay in local government provides the opportunity for him to do it and salvage the situation.

That could stump the Caravan for change since it is the number one issue on which it has fought this battle. And Warner is on record as saying he would support and work with whoever the people choose as their leader.

And that leader could even be Basdeo Panday. But then again it could any of the others - Warner, Maharaj, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Roodal Moonilal et al.

It's time to let the people vote.

Panday and Warner both condemned the government for taking away the people's right to vote in a local election. It would be nice if the UNC could apply that same argument and let the UNC membership vote.

To deny them that would be undemocratic, to say the least.