Jack: Rowley is a failure

FORMER minister Jack Warner said he conspired to help the PNM win the 2015 general election but now regrets this as he claimed the Prime Minister had failed in running TT.

Saying the final straw was the PNM choosing "an outsider" to run in his constituency, Warner has decided to vie for the Lopinot/Bon Air West seat.

At a briefing at the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) office at Arouca on Thursday, he downplayed his woes as former FIFA vice president and as former minister who resigned under UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

In a prepared speech on why he has re-entered politics, he claimed past dealings with Dr Rowley, hit his rivals for the constituency, and addressed the question of his age and US charges against him for alleged FIFA corruption.

Saying PNM leader the late Patrick Manning in 2014 had begged him to never help Rowley and Colm Imbert to run the country as they would ruin TT, Warner said in 2015 he had disregarded that advice and secretly met Rowley at a private house in Westmoorings.

“We met there every Tuesday for almost three months to strategise and to plan for a PNM victory in 2015.”

Warner said he had agreed to withdraw the ILP candidate in St Joseph so as to help the PNM’s Terrence Deyalsingh to win a tight race with the UNC’s Vasant Bharath.

“Dr Rowley felt the votes were too close for a third candidate and that an ILP participation would cause the PNM to lose.”

Warner related Rowley's promises to him to reduce inequities among people, corruption and poverty, and to improve TT.

“Needless to say, not one of Dr Rowley’s promises was kept and, over the last five years, I have watched as TT has become worse off rather than better. The rich have got richer, the poor got poorer and the middle class has dwindled."

Despite hoping for an 11th-hour change by Rowley, Warner said the naming of an outsider as Lopinot/Bon Air West PNM candidate had led him to come off the fence.

He dismissed concerns about his age by citing public figures such as the queen, who is 94, and the Malaysian prime minister, 92.

Warner was unfazed by US charges against him, saying one is innocent until proven guilty.

“I am optimistic that if and when it does come to trial I shall be fully cleared, as I was by the Integrity Commission.”

Warner said former commissioner of police Dwayne Gibbs and Colm Imbert, as an Opposition MP, had vouched for him.

Promising a walkabout on Saturday, he said, “I have no jerseys or gifts, trinkets, baubles or beads to give to anyone. In fact there is no gift anyone can give for the vote of another for besides being insulting, it is demeaning.” He vowed to be a catalyst for change across TT.

Answering questions, he said he was not rejecting Persad-Bissessar but hit Rowley's alleged “arrogance, insensitivity and lack of performance.”

Asked about a possible 20-20 PNM/UNC deadlock, with him holding the deciding seat, he promised to consult his ILP colleagues

Warner then claimed corruption today was ten times worse than under the former government, but subtle. He lamented ships bought from Australia without tender and $1.2 billion spent on a Tobago airport despite the current lull in travel.

Asked if he would talk to Rowley now he said it was too late, but asked about meeting Persad-Bissessar, he replied, “I have no problem with that.”

Warner promised, "I’ll give you a campaign that is unbelievable.”

Asked if he had been involved in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Warner said, “That is so ridiculous, it is not worth dignifying.”

He denied having had any recent meetings with Persad-Bissessar or planning any political accommodation with the UNC.

Asked about Persad-Bissessar, Warner said he had no beef with her but his dislike had been for the alleged former UNC cabal. Newsday asked if he was bitter for her having fired him from Cabinet when his FIFA affairs were under the spotlight globally. Saying bitterness was bad for oneself, he said, “I am not bitter with Mrs Persad-Bissessar.”

Newsday asked his prospects in Lopinot/Bon Air West, which the PNM last time won by 11,000 votes to the Congress of the People’s 6,000 votes. He replied TT has many frustrated people, including youngsters who cannot afford university due to cuts in the GATE subsidy, while crime was at its highest. “Nobody’s smiling.”

Asked if was giving the UNC an endorsement for election day, he replied, “Not at all. Or you would not have (UNC candidate) Prakash Williams fighting me.”

He favoured his chances, saying how much times had changed in five years, noting the economy was at its worst, foreign reserves are depleted and young people are listless.”

Warner denied the validity of US corruption charges, saying, “Nobody could point a finger against Jack Warner.”

Asked about the stalled election result in Guyana, Warner said, “It is a tragedy for me that democracy has not been allowed to prevail. The evidence suggests Mr Granger lost.” He said if he were the Guyana President, he would resign rather than sink that country.

On US sanctions being imposed against officials obstructing the election results, he predicted, “The worst part is that it will get worse for Guyana before it gets better. ” He predicted that suffering and riots were possible in Guyana, and this should be of concern to TT and Caricom.

On his candidacy, he said if he wins he will serve for $1 per month and not use the MP’s tax break to buy a car, continuing his established practice, saying, “I felt it is wrong.”

ILP leader Rekha Ramjit said Warner was running in Lopinot/Bon Air West because charity begins at home and he was a home-grown boy who was well known in the area. In 2015, he stood in Chaguanas East,while the UNC won, while previously he had won the Chaguanas West seat for the ILP in a by-election during the term of the former People’s Partnership government.

Dr Rowley was quoted in a television news report on Friday night as saying, “I met him at the home of a mutual friend once. If he considers that strategising no wonder he is where he is today.”