Shifting alliances - Selwyn Ryan on the MSJ

From Prof. Selwyn Ryan:

File: MSJ Leader DAvid Abdulah and OWTU president general Ancel Roget

It is not very clear what political games are being played, but from where I sit, Abdulah, Roget et al must equivocally sever their relationship with the Government at midnight on June 19 as they asserted they would do... The only question is whether they will "jump" or allow the PM space to push them over the grave's edge. 

My own sense of what is decent is that they should formally withdraw from the Government and set about building the working class party which they claim is required by "history" at this stage of Trinidad's political development.

I am not however convinced that a separate working class party is what is called for by "history". 

Trinidad's demographic structure makes it unlikely that such a party could win power in the near future. The MSJ does not have the votes to capture power on its own or in conjunction with any other combination. The MSJ is essentially a classic pressure group and not an inclusive mass political party...

The UNC and the MSJ seem to be playing cat and mouse games with each other designed to determine who would blink first and who has bragging rights. 

The MSJ does not want to walk meekly out of the coalition while the Prime Minister does not want to make it appear that she is expelling Labour from the Senate by way of retaliation. She wants Abdulah to jump to perdition first.

Read the full column in the SUNDAY EXPRESS