Congress of the People (COP) political leader Winston Dookeran has cautioned voters against being deceived that the People's Partnership would shutdown several institutions that offered jobs and educational opportunities to Trinidadians. Dookeran accused People's National Movement (PNM) political leader, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, of instilling fear among the electorate that a People's Partnership government was "going to take away everything." "He (Manning) is backing back. He is telling the people 'watch out for this People's Partnership. They are going to take away everything. They are going to get rid of CEPEP (Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme). They are going to get rid of UTT (University of T&T). They are going to get rid of the Gate (Government Assisted Tertiary Education) programme. And every other thing,'" Dookeran said.
"That is the furthest from the truth. We are not interested in getting rid of these institutions, like Gate and CEPEP and UTT. "In fact, one of the things that we will do is that we will get rid of the corruption in UTT and put it back on the right track to save the nation's future. And everybody knows how much corruption there is at UTT." He said the one thing that the People's Partnership was definite about getting rid of was "Mr Manning and his government." "That, for sure, we are going to work towards," Dookeran said. Dookeran was speaking at the COP public political meeting entitled, Put us to work for you...FOR YOU, on Tuesday night at Lime Boulevard, Santa Rosa, Arima. Among the concerns that Dookeran raised included the use of government funds for State advertisements during the period leading up to the May 24 general election. �
"We rely on the resources within your hearts, the resources within your mind, and the resources in your idealism for this country," Dookeran told supporters. "That, to me, is a stronger resource than all the money that they shall be spending and that they are continuing to spend. That will not fool the people of T&T anymore because the people understand that that has been used in the past." Dookeran said the people's mandate was needed "because we do not have State resources to fight an election, which, in itself, is wrong." He said the choice was between voting for the old, bad governance or the prospect of good governance. "Mr Manning came, (there was) a lot of oil-money flowing. We thought that this was another glorious opportunity for him to put the country back in order and, once again, he has squandered it," Dookeran said.