Griffith: NTA, UNC alliance can work beyond elections

NATIONAL Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith is optimistic that the coalition his party has formed with the Opposition UNC to contest the August 14 local government elections can endure well after that.

The UNC, NTA and the Movement for National Development (MND) have formed an alliance. None of these parties are fielding candidates in the same districts.

From his perspective, Griffith said, "I am not seeing this as a marriage of convenience just to win an election."

The NTA's partnership with the UNC is much more than that, he believes.

In an interview last Friday, Griffith said, "I think the country would like to see some degree of unification. They are fed up of seeing political parties attacking, destroying each other."

He believed the UNC and NTA were using a strategy first used in 1983 by the now-defunct Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR).

The ONR contested specific seats in that year's local government elections that were held by the PNM, while the United Labour Front (ULF – also defunct) contested other seats.

The ULF was the UNC's predecessor.

Griffith said this strategy led to the birth of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), which defeated the PNM 33-3 in the 1986 general election. The PNM returned to power in 1991 after a split in the NAR saw the rise of the UNC.

Griffith hoped that the formula which built the NAR could be replicated between the NTA and UNC.

Stressing that the alliance was not simply about defeating the PNM, Griffith said, "It is towards building a degree of trust, principles and a framework towards the general election (in 2025).

"The perception in this country is that coalitions cannot work and would not work. I beg to differ."

Griffith estimated that 80-90 countries in the world have been led at some point by coalition governments. Some have worked and some have not.

He said the same applies to governments led by a single political party.

"This (PNM) government is a perfect example. This is undoubtedly seen as the worst government ever and they stand on their own."

Griffith said coalition governments have many advantages.

"It ensures that one individual does not operate in a high-handed, arrogant, dictatorial manner, similar to what we are seeing right now in this country."

He repeated his view that the Prime Minister has dictatorial tendencies.

Griffith believed the UNC-led People's Partnership (PP) coalition government collapsed because the coalition it was founded upon "was rushed."

With two years before the next general election, Griffith said there is ample time to get the coalition formula right.

He added that he and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar have a good understanding of one another. Griffith, a former police commissioner, served as national security adviser and national security minister in the PP when Persad-Bissessar was prime minister.

"I want to give the country the assurance that this time around, it will work."