Congrats UNC, but hold on

THE EDITOR: Congratulations are in order for Sheldon Garcia, winner of the local government by-election for Arima Central, for the United National Congress. This victory places the UNC on the proverbial wall regarding the general election of 2025.

Obviously, winning margins come closer if representatives match the wide diversity of the electorate. All you need are people who are popular and exceptional, regardless of race. The Democrats won the US presidential election 2021, because thousands more minority voters were encouraged to exercise their franchise.

Trinidad and Tobago politics must continue to evolve. Too long now the UNC is viewed as almost totally Indo with just a very few token Afro faces. Of the two main political parties, the PNM has from inception, had representatives of all our races. This is the true recipe for repeated electoral victories spread over 65 years.

The excitement of the UNC winning Arima Central at local council level does not guarantee winning Arima at general-election level. Unless the UNC can put in place a candidate who represents the upward political mobility of a party that acknowledges the importance of change, the PNM will again win Arima.

The UNC can win 90 per cent of votes cast in UNC strongholds. The UNC can gloat over a popular vote based solely on its own numbers. But can the UNC chalk up success at a general election without a coalition? No. Unless it can wake up and smell the political coffee, Mr Garcia's local government victory remains his only one.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin