COP to Discuss "Unity of Peoples" Tonight Ahead of All Opposition Meeting Slated for March 7

The Congress of the People will hold a meeting tonight to discuss how to "etch a common framework between COP, UNC, TOP and NJAC," COP leader Winston Dookeran told the Trinidad Guardian.

"The process will focus on the unity of the peoples, and not with COP or UNC specifically," he said.

Dookeran said that any future election must be fought "one to one" suggesting some sort of unified front against the governing PNM. Opposition Parties are slated to meet to discuss issues of national importance on March 7, including unemployment, crime, national security, and education among others.

The COP leader outlined that "People hold the power, not the ideas of men." Dookeran noted that one "gatekeeper" of the flawed political process has fallen and that there is a renewed opportunity for unity talks.

“We want to build a machinery not for elections, but for building the social, economic and political fabric of this country,” Dookeran told supporters in yesterday.

Dr. Roodal Moonilal, who leads the UNC committee tasked with unification talks, told the Guardian that several critical issues will need to be addressed to avoid the pitfalls that have led to failed unity attempts in the past. He said he hopes formula for unification would be accepted by the parties and citizenry in due course.