UNC campaign has put T&T in political recesssion: Dookeran

The leader of the Congress of the People (COP) has said the tone of the campaign in the internal election of the United National Congress has created a "political recession" in Trinidad and Tobago.

In a media statement Thursday Dookeran expressed deep concerns about the campaign, noting that when it's over there will still be a country to build and save from further deterioration.

“The campaigning in the UNC’s internal elections has put the country into a political recession. The levels of personal denigration are quite alarming and contribute to deepening the mistrust which the wider population holds of certain politicians,” Dookeran said.

UNC leader Basdeo Panday, who is running for reelection against Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Ramesh L. Maharaj, has stated on several occasions that Persad-Bissessar will hand over the party to the COP if she wins the election on Sunday.

Maharaj has made the same allegation.

Panday has gone further and stated that there is a conspiracy involving Dookeran and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, who is running for the post of chairman.

He also told supporters this week Persad-Bissessar and Warner have formed an alliance with the COP, to give COP control of the UNC if they are elected.

Panday said Warner and Dookeran have endorsed Persad-Bissessar only because they consider her weak and easy to influence. But he warned that she could be easily destroyed in such an alliance.