COP leader: People want change not exchange

While the two major political parties opted for motorcades and mass rallies, Congress of the People (COP) leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan continued her party’s campaign of house-to-house meetings with constituents.

Speaking to Newsday during a walkabout at Caparo, on Saturday, Seepersad-Bachan said despite the challenges the party faced, she was still optimistic that its candidates would be successful in the December 2 poll.

The party is contesting electoral districts in Diego Martin, San Fernando, Couva, and Sangre Grande.

She said, “We are running a very much ground campaign, because we feel local government is on the ground, and we are more about going out to meet the people and telling them what representation is about. It is not about party politics. So we have been telling people how we want to do representation, and to make the change, which is why we calling it the quantum leap.” She said the response had been good.

“People are tired of the status quo. They want to see change and not exchange.”

She said the “quantum leap” she referred to meant moving from local government to community-based government.

Two of the issues about which the COP had raised concerns were campaign finance reform and the local government reform bill, both of which, she said, “are required to get the elected councillors into a modern system that will work effectively for TT.”

COP councillors, when elected, said their leader “will be that catalyst for change moving from a local government-based system to a more community-based system, to empower people to become part of the decision-making process.”

She reiterated the COP’s call for the Ethical Council to deal with parties that are not adhering to the code of ethical political conduct.