SHAM ELECTIONS

Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has accused the Prime Minister of being involved in a scheme to rig the upcoming elections.

Persad-Bissessar said she was made aware of the plan and vowed that it would not be allowed.

"I want to give Rowley a warning that we know what is going on and what he and his party are planning for elections."

At the time the United National Congress (UNC) leader was addressing hundreds of supporters at the UNC’S 30th-anniversary celebrations hosted at the Couva south constituency car park yesterday.

Persad-Bissessar said, "I want to give him the assurance that we have no intention of allowing him and his cronies to rig the elections now and use the campaign period as a theatrical show and then relegate election day as a sham activity to delegitimise electoral democracy in TT."

She told supporters that her party was now in election mode as they had completed the local government elections nomination process with over 400 people filing nominations.

Screening, she said, will begin in May.

“We in the UNC are not making any joke on this matter.”

She said they would not allow TT's electoral system to be subverted by political interference nor would they allow democracy in "our beloved country TT to be hijacked by political pirates posing as an authoritarian government."

She said the people of TT were under serious political oppression and were subjected to severe economic stress.

"They will not forgive this Government for the sweet talk given to them and the poison pills that you forced down their throats.

"They will remember how you (Dr Rowley) asked them to wean themselves off government yet organised multiple contracts and covered up acts of corruption to favour friends and family who feed at the trough of taxpayers’ money."

She said the people of this country would remember Rowley as the man who called himself the great salesman for TT but who instead sold the people out and sold out TT.

In the last four years, she said the Government did not achieve anything but instead reverted to the old pre-independence colonial tactics of race-baiting and terrorism of citizens using outdated laws to distract from the real issues.

Parts of her speech was also directed to the youths in the country many of whom she said have graduated with degrees and were without jobs. She urged them not to give up hope and outlined plans to provide 50,000 jobs to them.

"I promise you today that we will make, as our first priority, the creation of 50,000 well-paying jobs. We did it before. We will do it again. We will immediately restructure our health sector to make it a hub for medical tourism that will employ our doctors, nurses, and health care providers."

She said her government would also identify the jobs of the digital future and prepare young people to take them up.

Persad-Bissessar told her supporters to look at their record for the past 30 years which had always meted up to progress. She said the UNC promoted unity and would always continue to do so.

"The UNC condemns any use of divisiveness. Strength is in unity. We live together as sisters and brothers, or perish as fools."

She ended with a rallying call saying, "Show me your voting finger. With this finger, you can put a government in office and with this finger, you can vote a government out of office."

Supporters screamed waving yellow flags and balloons.