Kamla responds to Harris, calls for all to unite in common cause

On Monday, Trinidad Express columnist Michael Harris Harris wrote an open letter to Kamla Persad-Bissessar in which he urged the new leader of the United National Congress (UNC) "to comprehend with every fibre of your being the exceedingly perilous position in which our country finds itself today".

Harris wrote, "Your role, Dear Lady, the challenge which history has placed before you, is to deliver our nation from bondage.

"The only way that you can do this is to become the voice of a new vision of redemption. There is nothing else on your agenda as important as elaborating for the people, all our people, a vision of what our country could be, if re-founded on the principles of integrity, equality, security and popular sovereignty."

Read the letter: A letter to Kamla from Michael Harris

On Monday night, the UNC leader responded to Harris as part of her speech at a political speech at he Cunaripo Presbyterian School in north eastern Trinidad.

Here is what she said: A letter to Kamla from Michael Harris

"I had cause to reflect upon the situation in which I find myself, seeking to change the status quo and free our nation from the blight of "maximum leadership, of racial polarisation, of corruption and bobol, of squandermania and malfeasance" that was so eloquently put by Mr. Michael Harris in his open letter to me in the newspaper today. I thank him for his thoughts in that letter.

"Even before I took the stage in this political drama that has put me in this leadership role, I contemplated the very issues that Mr. Harris raised.

"And I sought to change not only the politics of my party, but the way this nation conducts its business.

"It was an uphill struggle and the response from the people sent a very clear signal that our citizens had made up their minds to help effect the change that is so necessary to make the transition.

"I pledged during my campaign for the leadership to do what you and so many of our citizens expect - to establish a new social and political order to prevent the inevitable anarchy, chaos and threat to our democracy and freedom that appears imminent under the present regime.

"My mission then as it is today is to build a better, fairer, more prosperous Trinidad and Tobago where all of us can live in harmony no matter what our religious or ethnic, geographical backgrounds or social standing.

"Wherever we may live, here in Cunaripo or in Penal or in Tobago or elsewhere in our land, we are one nation with one destiny.

"I also pledged to include the people in our political revolution because a nation’s strength lies not in those of us who lead, but in citizens like you, whose voices we need to hear so we can work on your behalf.

"I know you recognize the great challenges we face due to the perilous position in which our country finds itself today.

"I want to assure you that while I am, out of necessity, dealing with myriad day-to-day activities, I am also careful to analyse our needs in Trinidad and Tobago today, including those of political unity.

"And Mr Harris is also right on target when he sees my role as being bigger than just a changing of the guard.

"My vision is founded in HOPE. Our citizens, our UNC members and non-members like you, have rekindled the flame of hope for a better tomorrow. And I promise you and our nation that my vision and the UNC’s vision is one founded in respect for the individual.

• It is a vision about a beautiful country in which all of us can live in harmony
• It is a vision rooted in our belief that all of us are equal
• It is a vision of freedom, justice, equality, respect and love
• It is a vision that embraces everyone so that each of us could blossom and grow and realize our full potential

"We – and I say we because I mean all of us, citizens in a free and democratic society – have embarked on an historic journey from which there is no looking back.

"It is true that there will be detractors and opportunists as there are in every struggle. But I want to assure you and our nation that nothing will distract me and my party from uniting our nation and re-establishing good governance and order to our blessed nation.

"When I embarked on this mission, I pledged never to walk alone. I pledged to invite all our citizens to walk with me to shake our nation out of its deadly slumber.

"I assure you and our nation that long before January 24, I had put aside the emotional attachment to the past and began to look to the future.

"I am committed to change, to meaningful change and not exchange. But I am also conscious of the reality that change will only come when each one of us makes a conscious decision to abandon the old way and embrace that vision of a new society based on respect, integrity, accountability, democracy and freedom.

"This journey is one that will conquer more than the enemies such as poverty and hunger; it will create a new and just society in which each of us will be equal.

"Our greatest strength as a nation is our combined talents. But first, we have to unite for a common cause.

"There will always be room in our House of the Rising Sun for everyone who is ready to save our nation."