Hochoy: We are not separatists

DAC LEADER Hochoy Charles flatly rejected Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s assertion that either he or his party wanted Tobago to secede from Trinidad. Charles also rejected PNM Tobago chairman Neil Wilson’s call for him to apologise to Tobagonians for his past transgressions. Addressing the PNM’s Tobago House of Assembly (THA) launch in Scarborough on Sunday, Manning said the PNM’s opponents were talking about secession in the January 17 polls to serve their own political interests.

Manning said the PNM’s opponents “are not mature enough to understand that all this talk of secession has no place in the rhetoric of the people of Tobago or Trinidad and Tobago at a time when all around the world, countries are getting together in blocs of ever-increasing size.” However speaking with Newsday at the DAC’s Scarborough office yesterday, Charles said Manning’s comments were reflective of a mindset which dates back to the era of PNM founding father, Dr Eric Williams. “We are not secessionists. We do not want to break up the union (of TT). We are for integration,” Charles declared. He said all the DAC wanted was greater autonomy for the Tobagonians as far as decision-making goes.