MSJ: No political alliances post-election

David Abdulah - File photo
David Abdulah - File photo

DON’T expect the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) to enter any political alliance should it win any of the five seats it is contesting in the general election.

MSJ’s political leader David Abdulah on Friday said the MSJ will not be part of any coalition.

“From day one when we announced our candidates on June 15, the party chair, Gregory Fernandez, made it absolutely clear that we are not engaging in any coalition with any of the two traditional parties in the Parliament.

“Our position is that those coalitions work in the interest of the larger parties.

“We have had that experience, been there, done that, and we are not doing it again, because, particularly with large parties, they would say, ‘This is what you have to do and if you disagree, you either hold your nose and go along with the nonsense, or you walk.’ So we are not engaging in coalition politics.”

The MSJ was a member of the People’s Partnership government, but after a short period there was dissent and Abdulah and some other members walked.

Former labour minister and president general of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) Errol Mc Leod was the only one who stayed under the leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Abdulah said this time around, “What we are doing though is, with us in the Parliament, neither the People’s National Movement (PNM) nor the United National Congress (UNC) may have a majority, and therefore they would require our support in the Parliament to get things passed.

“In return for our support, we are not going to negotiate our seats or our votes for any ministerial position.

“We are in this to bring about betterment for the people of TT and for the country as a whole to bring about change.”

Abdulah explained, “We will use our votes to say to government, ‘These are the reforms you need to implement, and if you don’t do that, we would not vote for your budget or other measures that require our support.’ We would be a powerful lever, not just a voice for the people, but a lever to begin the change in this country.”

He said the PNM and UNC could not be expected to bring about change, “because they are part of the problem. They are part of the status quo, part of the reason why the country is in the state it is in today.

“The MSJ is about principled position in defence of the people of TT. We will not be jumping here, there and everywhere to get into ministerial office.”

“We are fighting for justice. We are creating a balance, we are fighting for betterment for the ordinary man, woman and child.”

Comments

"MSJ: No political alliances post-election"

More in this section