The People’s Partnership obtained power not because of its policies or vision but because the country hated Patrick Manning in 2010, says Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.
Now that the PP’s term has ended, Rowley said the party was still without policies or programmes.
Speaking at a public meeting at Embacadere on Sunday, Rowley said the PP continued to campaign on the same policies and ideas which originated under the Manning administration.
To reiterate his point, Rowley said the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses Programme (GATE), Unemployment Relief Programme (URP), Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP), On-the-Job Training (OJT), Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) and University of T&T (UTT) were all initiated under the PNM.
These programmes, Rowley said, were being destroyed by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration.
“It wasn’t their fault you know, there was a vacuum in 2010... such was the condition that the PNM supporters had printed jerseys saying we vex but we voting PNM.
“The PP did not have to put a single policy before the country. The only thing that held them together, made them useful and attractive in 2010 was their hatred for Patrick Manning and their hatred for the PNM,” Rowley said.
He added: “They had absolutely nothing else to offer to the people of T&T and you put them into office. They had the authority of State. Which policy or programme did they initiate to change the lives of the people of Embacadere? If they did have one, I don’t know about it.”
Rowley said Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim was campaigning for the Chaguanas East seat telling people if the PNM wins the election, GATE would be cut.
However, Rowley said the PNM’s plan for GATE was to rid it of corruption.
He denied that GATE would be cut if the PNM got into power. He also hit out at the UNC’s use of CEPEP and URP workers to build support at its political meetings, saying that no one should seek to have permanent employment in those programmes.
Rowley reminded the audience that CEPEP and URP were meant to be temporary employment so the poor could put food on their tables.