Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s “standby” word on general elections last Sunday, has also sent a variety of messages, say United National Congress (UNC) deputy leader Roodal Moonilal, National Transformation Alliance (NTA) leader Gary Griffith and Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) leader Phillip Alexander.
During the People’s National Movement (PNM) Family Day on Sunday, Rowley said he was pleased with the turnout and asked PNMites to “stand by and wait for the call because, in the middle of the night, the dawn may not be too far away ... whenever they are ready, THA election, by-election, general election, we’ll beat them!”
Moonilal said, “The leader of the PNM is simply putting his charges on alert for the inevitable. I suspect he senses that the PNM is behind and needs to catch up.”
“This is why there is an emphasis on talking about so-called ‘achievements’. But this is a desperate bid to fool the electorate that will not work. The Labour Day message was clear,” Moonilal added, referencing Labour Day statements from some labour leaders.
Griffith said he thought Rowley’s announcement showed political immaturity, “... To play this game ... and having the date ‘in his back pocket’ to tease voters and put the whole country on election alert and he alone must make that decision, as he has the constitutional authority to do so. You’re putting the whole country on election alert and you may very well not call it until this time so next year or even tomorrow.”
“It shows the importance to amend the Constitution to stop this type of pathetic display by politicians holding dates over T&T’s head in the hope you can pick up some traction to ascertain when you should actually have the election,” he added.
Griffith felt Rowley was “between a rock and a hard place,” as some may be advising him to call an early election because the UNC is presently divided, with the Rushton Paray faction and also with the “massive influence Jearlean John has on Kamla Persad-Bissessar,” in trying to influence her the that UNC must contest alone.
He speculated on if Rowley might also be concerned about calling the election early—as late PNM leader Patrick Manning did and lost—or because he didn’t know if NTA’s “bridge” voters might have an alliance with the UNC. He felt Rowley’s statement was a “dog whistle to see how much support he could actually have if he decided to call an election late this year.”
“But if he makes it, it’ll be the biggest mistake of his life,” said Griffith.
PEP’s Alexander said, “Keith Rowley looking for the dawn in the middle of the night epitomises how lost at sea he and his Government really is.”
“The disarray in the opposing camps is giving him comfort, and like everyone else, we’re awaiting a signal from the current major player in the opposing ranks, but if they don’t get their act together and continue to fracture at the rate they are going, we’ll all hand an election that they by all rights and reason should lose, to the PNM.”
He added, “Kamla Persad-Bissessar has to be hearing the ticking of the clock. There is no way she survives losing the next election, the UNC would explode into factions that would make the COP break look like child’s play and would take decades to unite. She has in her hands more power than Rowley has in his, the power to unite a completely disenchanted nation that would sweep the PNM into losses like 1986 and 2010. She needs to show leadership and convene unity talks with everyone.”
Alexander added, “If the UNC attempts it alone, they lose. All the third parties together in a three-way race hands PNM victory. There’s only one solution—we all need to put egos and past hurts aside like Rowley and Colm did, like Amery Browne and Rowley did, like Penny Beckles and Rowley did, and unite for T&T’s good. Anything else is chaos, and we’d be salting the fields for generations to come.”
