United National Congress leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she has no time for drama and is focusing on issues affecting citizens and preparing for the general election.
And National Transformation Alliance leader Gary Griffith says he has no intention of being in any catfight or issuing ultimatums such as is being issued to UNC by other parties.
However, as far as some senior UNC members are concerned, a coalition with Griffith’s NTA is back on and the preferred arrangement to fight the People’s National Movement.
This, from the two parties after Progressive Empowerment Party leader Phillip Alexander’s recent statements on the UNC and NTA.
After Griffith took issue with Persad-Bissessar’s recent warnings to smaller parties to pull their weight and he (Griffith) alluded to issues with UNC deputy leader Jearlean John, Alexander supported Persad-Bissessar’s statement and said PEP would endorse the UNC for general election.
But on Wednesday, as Griffith appeared to reconnect with the UNC, Alexander said he’d cancel all media appearances, public statements and public meetings until UNC leadership decides if Griffith or anyone he’s involved with are again part of any accommodation with the UNC.
Griffith on Wednesday had said there was ongoing dialogue with Persad-Bissessar and the “teething issues” with UNC were expected and these were to ensure mutual respect.
Persad-Bissessar, who on Monday thanked parties for endorsing her, only said briefly to Guardian Media yesterday, “The UNC is focused on the issues affecting our citizens and preparing for the general election.”
She didn’t reply to specific texted queries, including how the issue regarding NTA and PEP might be resolved, if the NTA arrangement was officially on, if Griffith’s issue with John was resolved, and if she’d bring all parties together.
Yesterday, Griffith, commenting on NTA’s relations with UNC, said, “There was only one media report that stated that there was ‘no longer any unity’. But at no time did either the UNC or NTA state that.
“As I said, there would be slight teething problems and they’ll be rectified to ensure no repeat of issues as in 2010-15. Like the UNC’s remaining focused, we in NTA remain focused on issues that affect T&T and showing the public we have the solution required to fix T&T.”
Griffith added, “We have no intention of being in any catfight or gutter politics with any other party, or issuing ultimatums or threats—like what’s being issued to UNC—and outright attacks on other parties. NTA wants no part of that.”
He said he found it amazing that any political party would give an ultimatum and a threat to another party that got over 300,000 votes in the last general election and has 19 seats.
“...And you’re threatening them and giving them ultimatums. If ultimatums and threats to walk away start now, what do you expect when we get in government? That isn’t what we want. If we have issues, we deal with it, we thrash it out and we move on.”
Griffith added, “I’ll continue meeting parties—including top members of certain parties within the next week—to ensure they’re on the same page to proper government and not have people acting similar to the same government we’re trying to remove. If another party wants to come on board, they can’t come as a Trojan Horse, attacking certain parties and not others. Even Stevie Wonder will see it for what it is. The only people who’ll welcome bacchanal in this type of alliance will be those who support PNM, and rightly so.”
Yesterday, Alexander said, “When we entered into this arrangement and made this declaration of support, not only was Griffith not in the picture, he was attacking the UNC and Mrs Persad-Bissessar.”
Saying that’s why he gave his support to Persad-Bissessar to stand up to Griffith, he added, “It was successful, it panicked him, boiled him down like bhaji—sent him begging back. ... This isn’t the first time he’s ‘detonated’, he did so when he was Kamla’s national security minister...”
Claiming Griffith was very much responsible for the People’s Partnership government’s demise, Alexander claimed that when Griffith was police commissioner, he accused the UNC of being an obstruction to proper law enforcement and other accusations.
“These things cannot be ignored,” he added.
Alexander said Griffith “detonated “again recently, including on a recent show and in comments in the media.
“The only thing that changed it and stopped him carrying on is my announcement. That’s not ‘teething pains’, that’s a beg back. If the UNC’s so foolish as to take him back, I’ll reserve the right to a future decision on what we do next and to who or what or how we go forward,” Alexander added.
Opposition frontliners trash Phillip’s comments
Yesterday, however, some in the UNC confirmed NTA leader Gary Griffith was obviously “back in the accommodation” fold.
On the overall situation, a top leadership official, who did not want to be identified, said, “We’re happy so many are tripping over themselves to join the UNC, but the party cannot accept ultimatums. I imagine other groups will also come running to embrace the UNC and if we all have to work together to remove the PNM legally, that effort has no place for ultimatums.”
The official added, “The NTA was UNC’s partner from the start in an alliance which successfully fought the Local Government polls. So Mr (Phillip) Alexander must understand about joining teams, that one doesn’t automatically become coach, manager and everything.”
Some other senior members also trashed Alexander’s comment, saying the UNC was a party with 19 seats, 300,000 members and it couldn’t be given ultimatums by persons whose party had lost all deposits in the last election, “resigned so many times from its leadership and that party now has its own internal issues which ent finish”.