COP tells Manning to set Gen. Election date

The Congress of the People (COP) on Sunday called on Prime Minister patrick manning to immediately set the date for General Election.

COP was responding to Manning's announcement Saturday that he wants his party to begin screening candidates for a general election immediately.

He has set April 7 as the date to begin the process, with the nomination exercise in his own San Fernando East constituency.

That coincides with an opposition motion of no confidence in Manning that will be piloted in the House of Representatives by opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Manning's announcement at a special convention of the governing People's National Movement (PNM) came just one day after the leaders of COP and the United National Congress (UNC) agreed in principle that there will only be one opposition candidate facing the PNM in the next election.

A split opposition vote in 2007 helped Manning and the PNM get a strong majority although it did not have a majority of votes.

In a media release, COP noted that while Manning put the party on an election footing he failed to announce and date for an election and did not say how soon he would ask the president to dissolve Parliament.

COP said if Manning now fails to set an election date it would be clear that his statement is nothing but "a desperate political ploy designed to ease the current tension within the PNM and to shift the dissatisfaction of the citizenry of T&T on the Government’s squandermania and current allegations of corruption."

The party added, "It is clear that the Prime Minister is now beginning to recognise the storm clouds gathering around him.

"From UDECOTT to the imminent arrival of the IMF, the recent joint statement by the leadership of the UNC and COP on their progress towards sustainable unification, and the gross incompetence in spending our taxpayer dollars and beyond, there can be no escape."

It said Manning must show that he means what he says and set the date for the next General Election now.

The UNC leader has also called on Manning to call the election. Speaking at a rally in Chaguanas Saturday she responded immediately to Manning's election announcement.

"Let me answer you, Mr Manning, don’t back back on that promise, you know, Mr Manning. Don’t back back at all because Mr Manning knows he cannot stop the wave," Persad-Bissessar said.

She called on the thousands gathered for the rally to say whether they had confidence in Manning and got a thunderous, "NO!" in reply.