Freelance Contributor
Congress of the People (COP) leader Prakash Ramadhar is warning that Trinidad and Tobago will face “grave danger” if the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) remains in power for another term.
Speaking at a political meeting at the party’s Curepe headquarters on Saturday, Ramadhar described the upcoming general election as one of the most critical in the nation’s history.
“This country is in such grave danger that many do not grasp the enormity of what lies ahead. If we think things are bad now, we fail to understand the destructive forces that could be unleashed, if they haven’t already begun,” he said.
Ramadhar lamented that T&T, once a leader in the region, has now become “a laughing stock on almost every level.” He blamed the PNM Government for the country’s spiralling crime rate, particularly in areas traditionally loyal to the party.
“In the heartland of the PNM that has governed this country for all the years, this is madness. They cannot even control a community that they have governed all of the time from independence onwards, they almost afraid to go in,” he said in an apparent reference to the ongoing violence in Sea Lots.
“The state is now weak and meek. T&T is more than these things, we must restore law and order with decency and fairness.”
Ramadhar also criticised the PNM’s handling of the economy, pointing to the closure of the Petrotrin refinery and the subsequent attempt to sell it years later after it has deteriorated.
“What stopped the PNM from looking for a buyer back then?” he questioned.
He warned of a worsening foreign exchange crisis, predicting that once the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund is depleted, the country may struggle to afford basic food imports. He said if that happens, T&T could see suffering like what was witnessed in Venezuela. And if things spiral further out of control, he said T&T may end up like Haiti, where the government has completely lost its grip.
Ramadhar also dismissed outdated political narratives, saying, “The old propaganda about politicians ‘thiefing’ won’t be enough to sway voters this time.”
Ramadhar admitted that the COP, now 19 years old and the third-largest party in T&T, has been largely dormant in recent years. However, he insisted that the party was never dead, just sidelined by political forces that dismissed its vision of “new politics,” a term coined by former leader Winston Dookeran.
“I want to put to rest today that we were wrong to call it new politics. What we exercised in the political sphere is the timeless values that have allowed society for eons to have succeeded. You cannot have leadership without integrity, you cannot have leadership without honesty, leadership without fairness, leadership without love.”
With his rallying call, Ramadhar urged supporters to revive the COP and reclaim its place in national politics. Ramadhar did not take questions from the media following the meeting. However, he said all questions would be answered later this week when the COP holds a news conference at a date to be announced.
The meeting started around 3.30 pm. By this time, supporters started to fill the venue and a number of them lined up outside with placards highlighting the level of crime in T&T and other issues.
Other speakers included Dr Selwyn Samaroo, Gerard Small, deputy COP leader Patricia Cedeno-Metivier and Women’s Arm chair Alicia Sharp.
Sharpe knocked the Government for waiting too long to deal with domestic violence. Referring to recent statements made by prime minister-designate Stuart Young about the implementation of stiffer penalties for domestic violence offenders, she said, “How many time all yuh stiffen the laws and the women still getting kill. What laws yuh talking about stiffening? We need social intervention in this.”
