UNC’s days are numbered

THE EDITOR: I am pleased to advise the people of Trinidad and Tobago that the United National Congress (UNC) will not be in Opposition for much longer. As a professor in the field of political science, I feel qualified to make this assertion — by the year 2007, the UNC will not be in Opposition. In fact, they won’t be in Government either. They will be totally excluded from the process of governance. It is clear that the UNC is quickly working its way out of governance. Let’s examine the facts:

1) The UNC has lost all credibility. Each time they speak in public, none of their statements can be validated by facts. Dr Roodal Moonilal, Gerry Yetming and Wade Mark must accept responsibility for this.
2) The electorate does not trust the UNC. Soon, the light will be shed on the Airport Inquiry and many, many other forms of misappropriation of public funds and of taxpayer’s dollars.
3) The UNC continues to divide the nation along racial lines. A very dangerous strategy that has never succeeded in any country worldwide.
Most political parties that have sought this route in order to win popularity are now out of the political arena. Furthermore, the people of Trinidad and Tobago are intolerant of this.
4) The UNC has poor leadership. Basdeo Panday has not been able to win respect in local, regional or international arenas. The people of Trinidad and Tobago have observed his self-centered, self-seeking objectives and so has the rest of the world. Unfortunately, there is no one in the party who can revolutionise the party and save it from this course of self-destruction. 
5) The UNC is ineffective political opposition. I remember when I was in my final year of study at the UWI campus, Basdeo Panday gave a speech and said, “The role of the opposition is to oppose.”

Those words will forever stick with me. It’s not about the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago. It’s about making the process of governance and the process of moving this country forward difficult. That’s the UNC purpose. The UNC will not be in opposition for long. I am now calling on someone who genuinely has the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago at heart to form a party that will be an effective political opposition so that we can get on with moving this blessed country forward.

PROFESSOR HUGO DES VIGNES
Chaguanas