Letter: COP is UNC version 2

Peter, I think you and I have different views on the relationship between the COP and the UNC.

It's the same argument I used to have with Panday re: the UNC vs the NAR.

From where I sit, the COP is by and large UNC Version 2, and therefore NOT a true 'coalition' partner in the conventional sense.

In political parlance, parties are generally cast as left of center, right of center, or middle of the road. A true 'coalition' exists when you have a marriage of parties with very divergent perspectives, like a far right group marrying with a left-oriented group.

In the current dispensation, you have two parties cut from the exact same bolt of cloth, the newer one (COP) drawing its raison d'etre from wanting to dissociate itself from Panday.

The UNC has accomplished that under Kamla and Jack, thus cutting the COP's rationale for existence off at the knees.

It is now only those within the COP who want to forment discord (read those who fought rabidly against cooperation in the 2007 general election) in the hope that they will 'get something' to buy their silence and cooperation.

But at the end of the day, the COP IS the UNC, just as the UNC WAS the NAR. Your caveat therefore that there are turbulent times ahead within the 'coalition' is not a view I support.

As for whether there is a backlash coming from the electorate - again, I am not so pessimistic. Rowley is at war within his own camp, and I expect the ground war that will emerge within the PNM - headed by Imbert, now that the gauntlet has been thrown - will cause deep divisions in that camp for some time to come.

What matters for the People's Partnership is that they focus and do their work diligently and not get sidetracked by the pebbles being cast by those on the other side.

Robert Sabga | Ottawa, Canada