Warner pledges to fix UNC, win government

Jack Warner took his UNC Platform for Change to the Couva South constituency Wednesday night and urged supporters to accept change because without it the future is bleak.

He said Trinidad and Tobago is today a failed state where institutions have crumbled. He lamented that in a nation of just over one million, the president is still "struggling to find just five persons with impeccable integrity to form our Integrity Commission"

He said that is a sign of the times as is the daily murder of citizens. Freedom has ceased to exist, he said, while the government plunders the treasury to construct useless infrastructure while people have to live without pipe borne water, quality health care and safe roads.

"There is a moral demise and a deafening silence that has descended upon us. That is why the Platform for Change has come to you tonight with an agenda to put the wrong things right; and to provide a platform of hope in this morass of despair," the Chaguanas West MP said.

He wondered how the UNC could ignore the ills of the nation and live in its opposition comfort zone and abdicate its duty to the people. He accused the party of refusing to reinvent itself even after losing election after election.

"So when my party continues to refuse to position itself to be the moral voice and conscience for the people Ramesh, Gypsy and I decided that we cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today and thus we established this Platform for Change," Warner said, adding that it started within the bowels of the UNC.

He said he and his colleagues - the so-called Ramjack dissidents - have challenged the PNM on issues such as transparency in governance and accountability in all affairs.

"But my friends, on what basis can we continue to call on the PNM to effect change when our own house is not in order? How can we stand fearlessly in Parliament and demand local elections now when my own party, the UNC is being led by men who have abandoned our own constitution and are arbitrarily holding on to power within the party?" he asked.

He scoffed at his party's claim to want political unity while it causes divisions within its own ranks. "If they cannot unify people within their own Party, how the hell can they unify people without!"

He said now is the time to end the silence and demand change within the party.

"This call for change has little if anything to do with your allegiance to the party. What the call for change is focused on is presenting the UNC as the best alternative to govern Trinidad and Tobago," he said.

"This Platform is not about who controls the UNC but rather whether the leadership is a valid and legitimate representation of you the people of UNC," he said.

"The Platform is not about alienation, discrimination or separation but it is about building consensus and establishing an institution that belongs to the members of the Party and not to one man and his family."

Warner took offence at a statement made by UNC Leader Basdeo Panday, who called Warner a "jackass" on Monday. In his anger, he became personal.

"A jackass I am for having kept his wife's bail over the last four years. A jackass I am because I have no intention of having it revoked. I may die before Mr Panday but my sincere hope is that someday before he dies, someone, somewhere will teach him what gratitude is all about," he said.

He insisted that the Platform is all about building a strong party, presenting the UNC as an exciting and attractive option for young people and recognizing and understanding the role that women play in the party.

And he made it clear that he is not going anywhere. "We are not going to pack up and walk away or seek to form a new Party" explaining that such a decision would guarantee the PNM perpetual rule.

He blamed Panday for creating distractions every time "we are on the threshold of governance". He promised to change that and move forward and to "put this Party back in government".

He served notice that he is in this battle for the long haul. "We will never give up this struggle and we will never grow bitter."

And he promised to create a technologically advanced communication system within the party to "excite the passion of our people to work together for the common good."

Warned called on UNC members to take personal responsibility for "what we make of the future of this country. Let us change our circumstances by becoming a part of the Platform of Change and let us, once again, rebuild our beautiful country."