PM insists: Coalition govt won’t work

“They talk unity but they don’t stand for the policies of unity...and if you vote for them, you eat what the devil knead,” Manning told the party faithful which gathered at Carry Road. Manning said the police had estimated the crowd at 6,000.

“For a coalition government to work it must have unity on all sides, the government must have the people at heart, the leader must have political skill and political acumen. Without these things it will fall,” he said.

He referred to a newspaper editorial which said there were successful coalition governments in developed societies and Malaysia which heading for developed country status. “Are they suggesting that what government must do is embrace the Malaysian model?” he asked, adding that Malaysia is a country that has no freedom of the press.

He said when trouble breaks out in a coalition government, a lot of time is spent to keep “humpty dumpty on an even keel” instead of taking care of the people’s business.

He said the 1986 coalition government of the National Alliance for Reconstruction — the ULF, ONR, Tapia, DAC — spent a lot of time looking after themselves and in less than one year the PM went to Cabinet and called for every member’s resignation.

“It was so explosive that TT hit world news that day,” the Prime Minister said. Manning said the fact that PNM called elections in 1995 and 2010, the government was still intact. He said UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar lacks the political acumen and strength to lead the country. “...in the context of the strong and dangerous men around her. She will reign and they will rule.”

Manning predicted that a UNC-led coalition government would be a disaster.

He received support on his claim that a coalition government will not work, from other speakers including Culture Minister Marlene McDonald and Science and Tertiary Education Minister Christine Kangaloo who warned, “As my grandmother used to say, ‘do not put fowl to guard your corn’. Vote for the PNM, it’s the only stable party.”