Daaga back in political spotlight

Makandal Daaga is likely to run as an opposition candidate in the May 24 general election. Daaga, who was a revolutionary leader named Geddes Granger in the 1970 Black power uprising, has been an ally of the Congress of the People (COP) and will likely be a candidate in Laventille.

According to the unity accord between the United National Congress (UNC) and the COP there will be a single opposition candidate in each constituency. The final seat allocation is yet to be worked out but there is agreement that Daaga's National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) would be involved in the campaign.

The parties have agreed on a common manifesto and will campaign on a joint platform. However they have not determined if the opposition candidates will retain their party identifies for the ballot paper.

Trade unionists David Abdullah and Errol Mc Leod will also be candidates. Abdullah is well known for his work with the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and more recently as a social activist leading the battle against the government against the property tax.

Mc Leod is a former president of the OWTU and was one of the founding members of the United Labour Front (ULF). He ran as a candidate for the ULF in the 1976 election and won the Oropouche seat and served as an opposition MP until 1981. Abdullah ran unsuccessfully as a ULF canidate in that election.

The ULF, led by Basdeo Panday, won 10 of the 36 seats in the election, replacing the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) as the official opposition. The Democratic Action Congress (DAC) won the two seats in Tobago.

Eleven parties contested the 1976 election.