COP’s McNicols : We want to work with Govt

After casting her vote yesterday for leadership of the Congress of the People (COP), Dr Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol commented that the party wants to work with the ruling People’s National Movement government.

“We have had experts in just about every area and I want to see that come forward now in governance. Even though we are not in government, I would like to offer the support to the Government of our experts- known and established, well respected, regionally recognised experts in the COP, to assist our Government,” Gopaul-McNicol said.

She made the comment to media personnel outside the Happy Hill Hindu School at Bonne Aventure, Gasparilllo where she cast her vote.

And if elected, she said the first thing on her agenda would be to recognise that the party accomplished another milestone “by getting through with this election”. Gopaul-McNicol said her second agenda would be to call, as immediately as possible, an interim executive members meeting to begin looking at how they are going to re-ignite constituencies.

Gopaul-McNicol said, “Then, I want to get us going with the identification of candidates of Local Government elections 2019 and general election 2020, so that they will be trained in building the ground support.” She vowed to work on ways of stimulating COP’s youth arm, adding that it is critically important to have a vibrant youth unit within any political organisation.

Her lone competitor is former Member of Parliament for San Fernando West, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, who is also a former party chairman.

Commenting on the proceedings yesterday, Gopaul-McNicol expressed concerns about a delay in election officers’ ability to find the names of party members on the list.. Like her competitor, Gopaul-McNicol was positive about her chances in the elections.

She reiterated that during her campaign, she was able to get first-hand feedback of people’s feelings about the candidates and about the COP.

Gopaul-McNicol said the COP always has the right policies, values and principles.