Volney voting for Deyalsingh on August 10

Former minister of justice 
Herbert Volney.
Former minister of justice Herbert Volney.

FORMER PP government minister and St Joseph MP Herbert Volney has openly expressed his support for PNM candidate Terrence Deyalsingh by walking with him in the constituency.

A video posted on Volney's Facebook page showed him with Deyalsingh on the latter's walkabout in Champ Fleurs on Friday.

"I am voting for my MP, Terrence Deyalsingh," Volney declared as he stood next to Deyalsingh, who is also Health Minister.

Volney was openly critical of the UNC's election strategy long before the Prime Minister announced August 10 as election day.

In another post on Facebook, Volney described the campaign promises being offered by UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar as "rattlesnake oil."

He claimed, "The ‘snake oil' being peddled – creation of 50,000 new jobs – reminds me of the 2010 manifesto promise of the Partnership.

"It is an easy promise to make by a campaign steep(ed) in desperation and led by a woman who has lost every election since my dismissal in 2012."

He also claimed the political reality Persad-Bissessar "carries in her wake" is "the stench of corruption and maladministration from her last two years in office."

She had refused to identify the "corruption, cronyism and abuse of power over which she presided in those horrid years, and to beg pardon for it."

While he is not a PNM member, Volney said, "I will give my PNM MP my vote in this election in order to ensure that it is counted against letting these people back into power, and the control of the Treasury. I cannot, and do not trust them."

Volney said, as bad as the PNM has been in government, he does not sense "instances of corruption."

He also added, "I do take into account that the Keith Rowley Government met an empty Treasury and heavy debt."

While the PNM could arguably have done better, Volney said, "Now is just not the time to risk everything, continuity and stability, by changing government and placing it in the hands of people looking for a work and power."

Persad-Bissessar fired Volney, a former judge, as justice minister over the Section 34 controversy.

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"Volney voting for Deyalsingh on August 10"

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