Vasant: 'I'll work with anyone'

FORMER government minister Vasant Bharath on Thursday declared, " I will work with anyone to remove what is possibly the worst administration in living memory."

Bharath made this declaration in a new year's message that was posted on social media.

Bharath, who has been openly critical of Kamla Persad-Bissessar's leadership of the UNC, said, "My political allegiance to the UNC remains unquestioned but I'm also committed to making the changes to ensure that our citizens are not bullied or taken for granted."

In November 2017, Bharath withdrew his candidacy for the UNC's leadership after claiming the party's internal elections had placed him at a serious disadvantage to Persad-Bissessar.

At that time, Bharath also said the UNC could not win a general election with Persad-Bissessar as its leader.

In his message, Bharath urged citizens not to be "blinded and underminded by biases of ethnicity, class and other subjective factors."

Saying that TT requires an urgent rescue mission and a political re-wiring, Bharath said, "One person can make a different and that person is you."

He said during the course of this year, he will be involved in several community initiatives designed to save the nation, and information about his activities will be posted on social media.

He added that this year provides citizens with the "solemn responsibility of electing a government that steers us away from the current tangled chaos of despondency."

Bharath identified the high crime rate at the end of 2019; a third successive year of economic decline with a fourth looming; the withdrawal of the old $100 bill; the pittance offered to flood victims; and the handling of the Venezuelan migrant crisis as examples of the PNM's inability to govern TT.