Congress of the People (COP) leader Prakash Ramadhar is calling on People’s Partnership supporters to move beyond petty issues of race so that the country can heal and unite in harmony. In a statement yesterday, Ramadhar said it had been one week since the general election was held and everyone needed to accept that the responsibility of the management of T&T for the next five years had been passed to the People’s National Movement.
“The Congress of the People, and our allies in the People’s Partnership coalition, have assumed the role of Parliamentary Opposition, which suggests that non-governing parties may oppose the decisions and actions of the sitting Cabinet while remaining loyal to the source of the government’s power, which ultimately is the will of the people,” Ramadhar said.
“For the COP, we hold that our role is that we should not oppose for the sake of opposing. Rather, we must be mature enough to add value to the policies, programmes and projects identified by the ruling party and stoutly oppose those initiatives that do not contribute to improving the quality of life, the standard of living, the future prospects and long-term viability of our nation’s efforts to achieve sustainable development.”
He added that the PNM’s victory was a reflection that the people have said, in no uncertain terms, that they wanted a change in leadership and possibly in direction. However, he said following the elections, some people on both sides of the political divide seem not to accept the people’s voice as readily and have been issuing messages which were not in the best interest of the unity of our people and nation.
“In the social media and in small groups throughout the country, some seek to abuse the freedom of expression which we enjoy by promoting a growing and overt racism which is expressed in crude, vulgar and even violent terms,” he noted.
“This is not acceptable in a truly democratic and united society that is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. We cannot allow any space, whether by individuals or groups, for such divisive and hateful messages to be spread in our national conversation and thinking, whether it is fuelled by sentiments based on winning or losing in our elections.”
The COP, he added, has always been beyond race, region, religion and gender. “We continue to occupy the middle ground hoping not to separate any elements of our nation, but rather to unite for the overall economic, social, political and other development and for the safeguarding of our natural and social environments,” Ramadhar said.
He said the COP has remained firm in its assurance that the vast majority of citizens do not subscribe to hatred and denigration of others on any basis. “T&T is one nation under God in whose eyes we are all created equal. The election is over. We cannot change the past and while we should seek to understand why things turned out as they have, we cannot let it stand in the way of our common future.
“Regardless of who is in positions of power, our future as a nation is as bright as the children for whose sake we take this nation forward. We must not allow the bitterness that is evident among a few in recent days to infect our youth and future generations with its deadly venom,” Ramadhar said.
He also called on all leaders in society, whether in the political, spiritual, social, cultural, educational and developmental spheres, to join forces with the COP to ensure that those who seek to take advantage of the circumstances to sow division never succeed.