COP calls for debates

COP political leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan.
COP political leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan.

A call for national debates was once again made by the Congress of the People (COP) for both the general and local government elections. On Sunday the COP opened their flagship office in St Augustine. Political leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan said the two major parties spent thousands of dollars hosting public fora, yet would not debate each other.

"Why don't we transform the electoral politics into proper debates? This is not just about debates for political leaders, there should be debates for candidate against candidate, local government candidate against local government candidate. Let the voters decide based on who they believe to be sincere, committed to doing the job and based on their plans and proposals moving forward."

Another change Seepersad-Bachan wanted was for more transparency with government contractors to ensure they were not involved in gangs.

"I want citizens of this country to understand that every time that you find a daughter or your son is shot as collateral damage, your tax payers money paid for that. I do not accept the excuse that we cannot stop state contracts. Most potential contractors, we must clear their names and ensure they are not involved in any gang.

"I think it is a cop-out by the government, a cop-out by all the local government bodies."

The St Augustine office is located at the corner of Evans and Jackson Streets. She said the COP is gearing up for the local government elections. Their local government candidate Michael Mungroo for Curepe/ Pasea was present.

Seepersad-Bachan lamented on the difficulties the party had in the past with their governance and their coalition party. She said she was at the first people's reinterment ceremony of indigenous human remains which were removed during the restoration of the Red House in 2013 on Saturday, and said that the community did not feel like they were properly represented in politics. She denied any future partnership with the two major parties – the People's National Movement and the United National Congress – but said the COP are holding discussions with some smaller and emerging parties for a coalition to ensure all citizens are adequately represented in government. However, when asked who the parties were, she declined to answer.

"Coalition politics in my view is still very relevant in my books given our diversity... our joining forces is not about coming together for the sake of power. The principle of the negotiations is not for the sake of power. It is for the sake of progress for TT to make that change happen."

She recalled a lot of failures the COP encountered, particularly with their union in the People's Partnership stating that the arrangement was not a proper coalition.

"Many of use when we went in, the COP, many of whom are here today, when they went into that arrangement there was an expectation that there was a coalition, and what we emerged was a partnership with a dominant partner. A coalition is something totally different...the COP was always about bringing diverse entities together, giving everybody a voice and we still believe that. We are a diverse country and everyone needs that empowerment."

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"COP calls for debates"

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