Winston Dookeran is talking about unity among opposition forces.At a symposium to analyse the results of Sunday's internal election in the United National Congress (UNC) and its implications for Trinidad and Tobago, the Congress of the People (COP) leader said if there is a snap election, a united opposition would run against the governing People's National Movement (PNM).
However he didn't explain how he arrived at the conclusion that the PNM would face the opposition one-on-one. He hinted at a merger with the UNC, stating that the home of the UNC is now different.
But he also appeared to contradict himself when he said that he himself would not be returning to the UNC. Dookeran was UNC leader for a short time and resigned to form COP.
With a new leader in the UNC there is speculation that COP members would return to the UNC and weaken the party, making it redundant. Dookeran dismissed that idea, saying COP is today even more relevant as a party than it was formed.
The new leadership in the UNC is launching a mass membership drive Monday and has called on all its former members and others who support the party's vision to sign up.
In her speech at Wednesday's inauguration, UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar invited everyone to "come home and bring the rest of the family".
Persad-Bissessar continues to get congratulations from a wide cross section of the national community and the momentum from her landmark campaign has not yet subsided.
During the election campaign she insisted that he would remain committed to the UNC and rebuild the party to defeat the PNM in the next election. Persad-Bissessar dismissed suggestions from Basdeo Panday that she would hand over the party to the COP.
The Siparia MP noted that as an MP she resisted all overtures to leave the UNC so there is no way that she will do it now that she is the leader.
Panday has said that under her leadership the UNC would die within six months.
Dookeran had resisted all calls from Panday for unity, saying his party would never unite with the UNC under Panday's leadership. He had invited Persad-Bissessar and the UNC to join his party, saying that it is the only political vehicle to win an election.
Persad-Bissessar resisted that and went on to challenge Panday for the leadership.
2 comments:
Uniting the opposition does not mean disbanding COP or the UNC. Instead, Persad-Bissessar and Dookeran could strike a formal coalition and agree not to run against one another should an election come sooner rather than later. As the new UNC establishes itself, the core differences between COP and UNC can be explored, but simply because COP emerged out of the UNC does not mean that the party in its entirety can now be collapsed back into the UNC. Strategically, the overwhelming unifying thing that both party leaders can agree to is a need to remove the failed PNM government and to do that as soon as possible. Splitting the anti-PNM vote would be most unwise, especially when a formal coalition that would preserve the distinctiveness of each party is possible.
Since the stunning defeat of Basdeo Panday on January 24, the political landscape in the country has been in convulsion. The old order is coming to a rapid end and as rigor mortis steps in, the tremors of the dying body continue to resist the inevitable.
It was on February 19, 2005 when the forces opposed to change gathered at mid center mall to boo out the architect of change. Winston Dookeran had conceptualized a broader vision for the UNC which would have expanded the base of the party, would have gotten the politics right and ultimately catapulted the UNC into government.
Winston Dookeran was forced out of the UNC only to give birth to the Congress of the People and to keep the dream of change alive. Within a short space of time more than 148,000 persons embarked on that long and arduous journey to fix the politics. Difficult, barren and humiliating times did not dim the hope for a brighter tomorrow, and on January 24, 2010 a large cross section of the UNC finally subscribed to the message of the pioneer Winston Dookeran. Hope was returning to get the politics right.
This transition is not going to be a smooth one as the original enemies who kept a people in bondage have reincarnated in many forms. In their quest to keep the society divided they have embarked on an agenda to separate the head from the body and kill the unity process. Under the guise of protecting their party, several commentators are now advocating the disbanding of the COP to cause the regional party to remain in opposition.
Using the pretext of being supporters of change, these interlopers have infiltrated the media to sow the seeds of the colonial concept of divide and rule .Those who pretend that there is an exodus from one party to another are being disingenuous as they attempt to turn back the hands of time to restore the old order.
It is inevitable that the opposition forces will engage in meaningful dialogue to free this nation.
It is inevitable that the journey which was started in 2005 will succeed.
Rabindra Moonan.
San Fernando.
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