There will be unity between COP and UNC: Rambachan

Acting leader of the United National Congress (UNC), Dr Suruj Rambachan, reiterated on morning television in Trinidad Tuesday that the the leaders of his party and the Congress of the People (COP) remain committed to unity.

He said there is no turning back from that because both leaders understand that the common political enemy is the People's National Movement (PNM).

"I want to assure the population on behalf of the party and the political leader that there is going to be unity. There is going to be a one to one fight," Rambachan said.

He said the UNC is prepared and ready for an election adding that "We are going to speed up things even more, as the bell is rung."

The 15-minutes interview on TV6's Morning Edition was conducted by journalist Andy Johnson. Jyoti has obtained a transcript of the interview. An edited version is published below:

ANDY: So this question about being caught with your pants down, that is not the case?

SURUJ: That is not the case. The population is seeing a party in action and since Mrs. Persad-Bissessar became the Leader of the party, in fact she has energised the party, and she has energised the population in the sense that there is a lot of goodwill towards Mrs. Persad-Bissessar and a lot of goodwill towards the UNC and towards Opposition parties in general given the state of the country and the manner of governance by the PNM at this point in time.

It is perhaps the first time in the history of politics in the country that you are seeing such negative emotions being directed at a sitting Prime Minister even as he goes into some of his traditional areas.

I myself was surprised to see people bringing bobolees into Port-of-Spain last Thursday and beating up those bobolees and so on.

I do not think they meant any disrespect to the Office of the Prime Minister as much as they are dissatisfied with how the country is being governed and the fact that a cash rich country has not been able to solve some of the problems that would have been some of the citizens happier...They are unhappy to the point that they are becoming very angry and that is a disturbing sign.

ANDY: What are people angry about?

SURUJ: Andy, when you go to the hospitals and you still cannot get a bed, when you go to the tap and you cannot get water, when you have to drive over pothole roads, when you have a Government that spends so much money on a Summit, a billion dollars there, a $300 million there, when you have the state of affairs as you have at UDeCOTT and when people do not see that that kind of money is filtering down to them.

When you have children who still have to go to school in dilapidated schools, when schools should be re-built and children have to hold placards and to stand up and protest....that cannot be a happy society.

The recent MORI poll that came out last week showed that over 72 per cent of the people are dissatisfied with the quality of governance in the country and with the Prime Minister.

ANDY: Can you extend that 72 per cent to include supporters of the ruling party?

SURUJ: It has to include supporters of the ruling party and I think you are seeing a situation here, because Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a leader who works along the lines of consensus and who is humble and who is a listener, you will find that she has been able to, in a very short time, get rid of the traditional divides that have kept people apart in the politics.

So you are not finding for example, that class and status, and race and religion and so on are playing a part in people's political decision making as they normally would play.

And I think Kamla Persad-Bissessar is one of the very first leaders who has done that in a very successful fashion. This is why you find where ever she goes, people gravitate towards her.

She has brought hope a sense of hope to people and a lot of people have said that she has given them a chance to start things afresh and to put things right in the country... The Government's interests and priorities are at variance with the people's priorities. The people's priorities are the simple things that will affect how they live, not just the quality of life, but how they live on a daily basis.

Andy, what do you say of a society that spends $300 billion but the UNDP says that 14 per cent of your population - about 250,000 people - are living on less that $12.50 a day in a country like Trinidad and Tobago?

ANDY: Is that calling the election now it would be better for the Opposition forces because the other view is that the UNC needed some more time to consolidate under this new leader and to work out the kinks that still remain following the internals elections and to work for unity with the COP?

SURUJ: Well the Political Leader of the United National Congress and the Political Leader of the COP, Mr. Winston Dookeran, they have advanced the process, in that they have agreed that there is going to be a one to one battle in each of the constituencies and they have committed to that.

ANDY: You mean for General Elections?

SURUJ: For General Elections and for Local Government Elections also. The Political Leader of the UNC is returning home tonight, and as soon as she returns, she intends to activate that further by having meetings and so on with the relevant political parties in order to bring about a sustainable unity.

You know we have learnt from the experiences of the past in terms of accommodations.

ANDY: How do you respond to comments made by the Acting Political Leader of the COP?

SURUJ: I think as the run-up to the elections come and the announcement by the Prime Minister, you are going to get that kind of anxiety. But I am not worried about that at all. I want to assure the population on behalf of the party and the political leader that there is going to be unity. There is going to be a one to one fight.

Andy: As we speak this morning, is there a platform that didn't appear to be the case from those comments?

SURUJ: Discussions started Andy, discussions started with Mrs. Persad-Bissessar and Mr. Dookeran, just before he went off to India and there were certainly agreements that both leaders arrived at.

If I may just quote it for you. Mr. Dookeran said, "We had very intense discussions with respect to the politics of our country and more particularly with respect to the common ground that must be forged to pick up the challenge ahead of us."

Mr. Dookeran said, "we have in principle agreed that we will work towards a sustainable unification not only between our two parties, but with other political groups in the society, so that we can offer the nation at the appropriate time, something that will be purposeful and will in fact have the competence to tackle the various problems we are facing in our society."

ANDY: So does that press conference not surprise you?

SURUJ: I think we must not be disrespectful to Mr. Dookeran, he should be kept as part of the equation in the discussion. He is in India and I am sure my Political Leader will also be contacting him as much as speaking to the people who are here now in charge of the COP.

But I am not unduly worried about that. I think the country wants unity, the country will get a sustainable unity and I think at the end of the day, the people will be very very happy with what is the outcome.

It will be a very transparent process, not like in the past where things were done in a back room and then you come and announce something to the public. The people will be involved, because if you have to sustain a unity after the election, it is the people who are going to help sustain it.

ANDY: So you will not advise anybody on your side taking what you heard at the COP's press conference yesterday as personally?

SURUJ: No, not at all. As I said, there are all reasons for all kinds of anxieties that arise closer to the election, because people want this unity. There is a passion for the unity, and sometimes in the passion and in the run-up to the unity, you get those strains and stresses and those are things that have to be understood in the process.

ANDY - How is the party going to do anything differently from what you are criticising...the state of affairs in the country...how are you all going to make a difference because people are asking?

SURUJ: Well Andy, one of the first things we have to come to terms with, is what are we going to inherit in terms of what is there now. Systems have brokened down.

The institutions that have guaranteed a democracy have also been put to test, so many important positions in the country have not been filled. It seems there is a variance between what the people want and what the Government is doing.

One of the first things we will have to do is to really ask the question, what is really right for the people of the country and to formulate our policies so that what is right for the people, will be how we focus.

And, what is right for the people are the basic things that people need, We have to re-focus the spending and the priorities of the Government. We must not just go ahead and say that we think this is right.

The society has changed. People want a greater level of say and participation in terms of the destiny they want for themselves and the destiny that they want to arrive in.

They do not want to arrive in a destiny which others are creating for them, they want to participate in forging that destiny and we must be cognisant of that and consult with the people.

Sometimes consultation takes a longer time, consensus building is always a process that takes longer at the front end.

But when you have consensus and you have agreement, the implementation is great and also the energy of the people in creating that which is new, and sustainable and acceptable to them is going to much better and much more stable.