Senior Reporter
akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
With the 2025 General Election less than two weeks away, so far, the All People’s Party (APP) is the only party to release a full manifesto in its traditional sense.
One political analyst believes this is a sign of “political laziness” on the part of leaders and party executives.
APP leader Kezel Jackson yesterday said their manifesto was made public on April 2. The APP has a 16-point plan for the country, which includes increasing public sector workers’ salaries, fully legalising marijuana, a citizenship by investment programme and implementing a digital healthcare system.
The United National Congress (UNC) has revealed half of its manifesto so far, with the remaining policies to be rolled out in the coming week.
“There are quite a few other pieces that will come out for the rest of the week. There are nine pieces in all. The others will come out soon. We are trying to time it, to build on expectations,” said UNC chairman Dave Tancoo.
Tancoo said soon, the party’s policies on the economy and national development will be revealed.
On the UNC’s website, it has published plans for national security, the criminal justice system, healthcare and education.
The People’s National Movement (PNM) yesterday announced that its manifesto will be released today. PNM general secretary Foster Cummings, in a release, said the manifesto will be unveiled at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain.
The National Transformation Alliance (NTA) is also expected to announce its policies today at a rally in Sangre Grande. However, leader Gary Griffith said he’s not calling it a manifesto but “a roadmap towards transformation.”
“A manifesto for the last 60 years in this country has been nothing more than a pack of lies and empty promises without any research, cost-benefit analysis, data or any aspect to justify the intention and demand. This means it is never implemented and if it is, it is done without any access to understand how it is you are going to generate revenue to offset the added expenditure.”
Mickela Panday said the Patriotic Front’s (PF) manifesto will be released on April 21.
In Tobago, the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) said its plans are coming soon.
Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP)’s leader Watson Duke has already launched his manifesto, but said it was done in spoken word.
“In all of our meetings, we go through the aspects of our manifesto. We don’t try to be exhaustive; we try to be relevant and speak of the things that are most important to the people at this point in time,” Duke said.
‘Lack of political acumen’
Commenting on the slow rollout of manifestos, political analyst Derek Ramsamooj underscored their importance.
“I believe manifestos are an integral part in the political decision making especially with respect to the undecided, swing voters and first-time voters.”
On their slowness in coming, he said, “Let’s clearly recognise the fact that there is a level of political laziness by the leadership of the different parties. It could be because they lack the political acumen or political intellectualism to create new economic spaces that will provide economic employment, growth in the economy as well as to deal with the social agenda such as safety in our communities.”
Asked if the late reveal is a political tactic, Ramsamooj said, “I think the strategy of ticking the boxes of having presented a document as opposed to being able to examine the validity and the practicality of the document is a political strategy.”
However, economist Dr Vaalmiki Arjoon believes delayed manifestos has more to do with dominating news cycles.
“By releasing their manifestos closer to the election, they hope to ensure that their messaging and policies dominate the headlines in the critical final days of the campaign and that the content remains fresh in voters’ minds as they head to the polls. It also leaves less time for political opponents to scrutinize its contents,” he said.