Dookeran still doesn't trust Panday, but hopes for united opposition

Congress of the People Political (COP) Leader Winston Dookeran is confident that the next general election would be a two-way contest with a combined opposition against the People's National Movement (PNM).

However he said Wednesday there is still a lot of work to reach that goal.

"How we get there, when we get there and on what terms we get there will be a matter for deep dialogue, conversation and discussion, but it will be in that direction, given the political reality and arithmetic of Trinidad and Tobago, Dookeran said.

He was speaking at a luncheon media briefing at which he formally announced that the COP will be opening an office Saturday in Port of Spain.

He plans to use the "flagship house" base to expand COP's reach in the East-West corridor while his deputy, Prakash Ramadhar would concentrate on the souther constituencies.

Dookeran has been trying to convince the opposition United National Congress to join the COP and become the powerful political vehicle that would remove the PNM.

But while he has been extending such an invitation he has also been very clear that the UNC under the leadership of Basdeo Panday cannot effect the political change that is needed today.

In fact he has made it a point to slam Panday repeatedly, saying the former prime minister and the current government leader have plotted to impose a new constitution on the country.

From the UNC camp, Panday met Dookeran last week at a function in honour of visiting Indian Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. He said he spoke with Dookeran about meeting to discuss constitutional reform.

Panday is sceptical about any unity with the COP under Dookeran's leadership and has been urging UNC supporters and other citizens to unite in a people's revolution from the bottom up.

The signals from Dookeran also do not point to an imminent alliance. He doubts that there would any meaningful dialogue under the present circumstances but hopes that after the UNC elections there could be an opportunity for meet to discuss the COP's people’s charter.

"I am not going to allow his (Panday's) tactics and insults to change my course, which is to keep the doors open for a new political dispensation," he told reporters.

He did not want to comment on who might be running for the leadership of the UNC but said he hopes the internal election would be democratic and fair and could stand up to scrutiny.