After a weekend poll which showed the People’s Partnership (PP) only one seat in front of the Opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) in the general election stakes, United National Congress (UNC) supporters at the party’s Charlieville meeting on Monday seemed anything but worried.
UNC’s Roodal Moonilal, to the contrary, declared at the start of the meeting: “We ready... we marching forward with our campaign to retain Kamla Persad-Bissessar as Prime Minister of T&T.”
And the Prime Minister, dealing with the poll first off in her address, sought to spin any concerns into contentedness when she declared one of her team had noted the PP hadn’t even produced all of its candidates, yet the poll had shown it on a “...victory pathway and we in front.”
The Charlieville meeting on turf of PP political enemy, Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner, who wrested the seat from the PP in 2013, was a post-poll chest-thumping signal to both Warner and PP enemy, the PNM.
The auditorium of the ASJA Girls’ College was filled to overflowing with many more seats on the concrete apron around the building and surrounding grounds.
Despite the sedate looking arrangement the vibe was high. Uptempo kaisos set the political temperature above the “Kamla” theme song (a 2015 rework of R&B duo Mcfadden and Whitehead’s 1979 “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”) which has pushed UNC’s recent forums. UNC’s “Time To Rise Up” echoed.
Supporters of Ganga Singh, who was later announced as the Chaguanas West candidate, were pools of blue in T-shirts other than UNC’s traditional yellow. They waved the biggest flags, had the loudest cheers and roared deafening approval when Singh was declared a candidate.
Constituency T-shirts told their own stories apart from Singh’s supporters proclaiming “Ganga Singh—The Right Choice”.
“Chaguanas West—ICU” and its with a heartbeat sign denoted the Warner-held area needed UNC Intensive Care Unit attention.
“Keep Calm and keep Rudy,” telegraphed a lobby for Couva South incumbent Rudranath Indarsingh to be retained as candidate as did “Glenn Ramadharsingh—Hardworking MP” did.
Souvenir fans and fringed sashes were distributed. Point Fortin supporters in the aisle, lobbying for Bishop Jankee Ragunanan, held up a big banner.
An earlier T&TEC function to present lights for the school’s recreation ground had set a positive atmosphere for the meeting.
Moonilal, stressing the need to return Chaguanas West to UNC’s fold, led a doubled-headed charge linking Warner and to the PNM’s political leader Dr Keith Rowley.
”You must ensure you chase Warner out of town... out, out, out... Rowley only quoting Warner but every judge in the courts saying Warner is a liar.”
Moonilal ended by accusing Rowley of wanting to “bring back” Fitzgerald Hinds, Camille Robinson-Regis and Colm Imbert... “the most arrogant people,” he claimed.
Then it was on to Minister Singh, a former Caroni East MP, who the UNC is also returning to electoral politics to battle Warner. Assuring Chaguanas West would soon be “back home,” he showed he had lost none of his platform fitness.
“The Prime Minister’s opponent is outwitted, outmatched and outclassed and he recently demonstrated this... you know the kind of hate and anger that will be unleashed with Keith Rowley... his legacy is Landate and Las Alturas.”
Persad-Bissessar trashed Warner: “...The former Chaguanas West MP, a man who did little, save for himself, a man who’s a stranger to the truth, he’s history now.”
Her guns were trained on Rowley: “If he can’t face me in a debate, how can he run a country? Why did he chicken out? He wants to avoid scrutiny on his lack of plan.”
Persad-Bissessar presented her own “debate” questions for Rowley, claiming the origin of some queries—on Rowley hiking VAT and taking away PP granted houses—was “PNM sources.” She didn’t identify the sources, though.
“The choice is clear,” the PM declared, “...only myself or the Opposition Leader, it’s whether we go forward with Kamla or backward with Dr Rowley.”
She got her answer from the screaming crowd.