PEP, Reunited Farmers Alliance join forces for local government elections

TWO smaller political parties have joined forces for the August 14 local government election. The leaders of each party believe if the coalition is successful, it will give hope to the public.

The People's Empowerment Party (PEP) and the Reunited Farmers Alliance (RFA) held a press conference in Port of Spain on Wednesday to announce their plan.

The RFA was formed in 2019, initially as a lobby group for food crop farmers and ex-Caroni (1975) Ltd workers, who have been waiting for lands promised to them as part of their Voluntary Separation of Employment Package (VSEP) for 20 years.

RFA leader Davica Thomas, a former UNC member, said it was the same people for whom the lobbying group spoke up then who now make up a majority of the party's 72,000 members.

She said these supporters suggested transforming the group into a political party, now registered at the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

She said, "Here we are today ready to step into the field."

She said the public wants "a better TT," in which they can feel safe and where democracy is not threatened daily.

She said the party has the support of 22 NGOs, village councils, religious organisations and other political parties.

While the other parties are not registered at the EBC, she said, they have agreed to "go under our symbol."

The RFA's symbol is a farmer working next to an ox.

Thomas said the party will challenge "all 141 electoral districts come August 14."

PEP leader Phillip Edward Alexander said the parties had similar pasts, as they "both come from the call of the people to get the representation against the power base that has operated for far too long in defiance of the needs of the people."

He said people's quality of life is deteriorating in TT and the public is unhappy and hopeless.

"So people would (now) see two organisations that have stayed true to their purpose and joined hands to walk forward..."

He called on ex-Petrotrin workers, as well as workers of TSTT, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) to join the coalition.

"We calling for all the people who have been done wrong, left behind and left without a voice. This is your voice. Come and be a part of it."

Given the late announcement of the election date, Alexander said no one symbol has yet been created to represent the coalition, so the parties have just agreed not to compete.

He anticipates that the turnout for local government elections this year will be "quite high."

If the coalition wins across all 14 corporations, Alexander said, the public will have a surge of hope.

He urged the public to not blindly support political parties because their family members did in the past.

"Think about yourself, think about your children."

Alexander, too, had ties with the UNC in the past, as he supported the People's Partnership.

On the recurring issue of lack of funding for regional corporations, Alexander said even if they are starved of funds, they will get the necessary work done.

The PEP has screened 150 candidates so far and the RFA, 300.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar recently said the UNC was in discussions with at least two smaller parties to partner for the local government elections.

She had also called for any other interested parties to join.

The PEP declined this invitation, with Alexander saying the country wants change from both PNM and UNC, and another "amalgamation of political parties" is not what it wants.