New year message: Winston Dookeran

My fellow citizens,

The New Year has come at a time of deep agony and new hope for our people.

Even now, as things fall apart at the centre, we dare to look forward to positive change in our beloved country.

There is real hope once more that we will overcome the obstacles in our path and make Trinidad and Tobago the safe and happy place that is must be.

Much of this, though, depends on the choices we make together in our public and private matters.

Nations rise and fall on the public choices they make. Our choices will determine the values of our leadership, the accountability of our government and the path our country takes for a better quality of life for us and for our children.

We cannot ignore the pain of our mothers losing their children to violence, the tears of our sons and daughters in need of good health care, the lost hope of our pensioners and our farmers for a decent life.

We have to husband our resources carefully to avoid corruption and wastage so that we can improve the well-being of all our people.

I know that tomorrow will be a better day, if we have the courage to work together and get our politics right.

This is indeed a time for bold decisions as the gatekeepers of our politics fade into the past. This is a time when our courage for change will be tested. This is the time to have a choice in this otherwise ‘choice-less democracy’.

Our nation is in need of a passion for a new promise. We must not let our country down.

The Congress of the People will strive to offer a leadership that you can trust, a team that is competent to handle the challenges of governance in the 21st century.

In the true spirit of unity, we offer to forge a protocol with other parties that will provide a stable and just society for our nation.

This is the promise to affirm our national character - when our red, white and black flag can be an inner voice to all our people- Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Orishas.

Let us move forward to Higher Ground where there is equity for all, a safe place to play and work, a future that is confident and secure, where there is real promise for the young among us and a belief that “we can do it…we must do it… and together, we will do it” as One People, One Nation.

May God Bless our Nation!

Winston Dookeran | Political Leader, Congress of the People (COP)