PP chairmen meet to discuss areas of concern

The People's Partnership - a commitment to unity

Four of the five chairmen of the political parties that make up the People's Partnership met Monday in Port of Spain in keeping with an agreement reached at the last meeting of the leaders on April 12.

That meeting mandated the the party chairmen to meet before the end of April and recommend action on matters for the consideration and approval by the leaders. The leaders also agreed that the chairmen would continue to meet every month and that the leaders would do the same.

The joint statement issued after that meeting said, "The leaders recognise the importance of this forum for the discussion and resolution of national policy issues."

The leaders also agreed that given the circumstances of the change in party allegiance by San Fernando Mayor Marlene Coudray and COP's loss of that position of responsibility the leaders would consider a number of options. 

They also agreed to define:

• Rules of Engagement with the parties
• Fair share of resources to communities
• Resolving of the concerns of important sectors of the national community
• Improving the Governance of the country by implementing manifesto commitments, particularly on transparency and accountability 

They said the partnership would place greater emphasis on collaborative approaches to facilitate consultation, participation, involvement and consensus-building. "This will help us to achieve unity of purpose in our efforts and partnership and trust in the society," they said.

Jack Warner, Joseph Toney, Vincent Cabrera and Stanley Baird representing the UNC, COP, MSJ and TOP met at at the Old Concacaf building to discuss the concerns of the various parties. The NJAC representative was absent.

Warner told the media, "What we have of course is to discuss the mandate which the leader has set for us to meet as a group, as an entity, and we have to discuss the resolution about the COP's loss of position, the Marlene Coudray issue.

"We have to define rules of engagement for the parties. We have to look at the important concerns of the national community. We also have to look at the governance of the country through the implementation of the manifesto of the parties."

Warner added: "That was one of the issues for this meeting. Therefore we can't solve it by burying our heads in the sand so to speak. We have to put it on the table and discuss it...I will ask them what has been discussed and what trade offs they expect. The issue is not dead, the issue is very much alive."

Warner noted that Monday's meeting discussed "several complex matters" adding that "on those complex issues we need further guidance. As such therefore we decided to approach the leaders for the guidance.” 

COP Chairman Joseph Toney said, "I am the eternal optimist and I hope we can discuss matters and keep the People's Partnership together."