PNM Women: UNC must admit election plot

ALLEGING the United National Congress (UNC) and cohorts had tried to subvert this country’s elections, the People’s National Movement (PNM) Women’s League yesterday called on the UNC to say who had paid foreign data firm Cambridge Analytica and secondly did they harangue citizens by accessing personal data from State bodies.

A league statement alleged the UNC was morally bankrupt and had lowered the bar in an alleged attempt at election tampering using personal data obtained by Cambridge Analytica.

“This showed the depths of desperation the UNC and its cohorts sunk. Trinidad and Tobago are no strangers to the digital age but to learn from a foreign parliament that our private data was harvested as a means to a warped end was astounding to both public and private citizens.”

The league said a line has been crossed.

“Blissfully-unaware citizens used social media platforms unmindful that the data-harvesting was taking place even from their private messages.”

The statement said this new political campaigning tool was one intent on subverting TT’s democratic process, citing British whistle-blower Christopher Wylie lamenting “grossly unethical experiments” where “you are playing with the psychology of an entire country without their consent or awareness, you are playing with an entire nation in the context of the democratic process”.

The league was unsurprised by the vociferous denials by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her ministers of national security plus the lukewarm denial by former People’s Partnership member the Congress of the People (COP).

Alleging an attempt to steal the freedom of choice from our citizens, the league said Persad-Bissessar must say who paid for the Cambridge Analytica consultancy.

The league also asked if she would deny minutes from the UNC which showed how they used access to State entities to harangue citizens for votes on their unlisted phone numbers as well as private email addresses.

The league said if the Opposition truthfully answers these questions that will be to admit to serious crimes, mischief in public office and the profound betrayal of the people of TT.