Griffith to elected officials: Serve citizens

On a cool Monday morning, political leader of the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), former police commissioner Gary Griffith, called on politicians to serve citizens, whether elected to office or not.

He, his wife Nicole Dyer-Griffith, businesswoman and communications specialist, and their son, Gary Griffith III, voted at the Maraval Community Centre, Morne Coco Road at 6.35 am. It was the first time his son had voted.

The NTA formed a coalition with the United National Congress: Griffith's party contested 31 and the UNC 110 of the 141 local government districts.

Griffith said the voting process was smooth for him and his family.

“We have been contacting all of the other locations. Everything has been running according to plan,” he added.

He also hoped that like his son, more young people would come out to vote, as was their right.

While it was “a long gruelling campaign,” he said, the election showed TT was united. There was often the perception that the country was divided because of politics, but that was not seen during the campaign, he said.

An upbeat Griffith urged: “There is an important day in TT, and that is August 15, the day after the election. That is where the country must always understand, regardless of who it is you vote for, who will win, who will lose, we are all citizens of a very great country, and it is hoped that politicians would continue to remember that and not try to divide the country.

“Thankfully, what we have seen in this campaign. We have not seen animosity, we have not seen hatred. We have not seen that with the supporters of any political party, which is good.

“(In) countries all throughout the world, there is civil war because of differences in political views. You don’t see that in TT.”

Griffith said this was sometimes caused by politicians, but he found the entire local government campaign was clean, above board and proved TT’s citizens were second to none.

He also hoped that continuing throughout election day and – no matter the election’s outcome – citizens remained calm, took a deep breath and worked toward the country after tomorrow.

TT wanted unification and was tired of divisions, hatred and bitterness, he added.

Citizens wanted to be assured elected officials would not be absent for the next four years.

“That has always been the problem: they put out a lot of work, and give all of these promises, regardless of whichever party it is, A, B,C, X, Y, Z; the 141 candidates to the political parties that win, those who may win corporations – the citizens are pleading, stop using them.

“Stop putting them in a position where you beg for their votes and then, when they provide it, they do not see you.

"People want accessibility; they want to make sure you serve them. They want to make sure there is no arrogance. They want to ensure that there is humility among politicians, which is all I have been getting from the country.”

Griffith said he walked throughout the country and that was what citizens were asking for: politicians who do not forget them after they vote.

He called on all politicians – whether elected or not – to work. Griffith said there was still a lot they could do for their communities, even if not elected.

Asked if he felt the voter turnout would be high on Monday, Griffith said the jury was still out on that, but there were reports of people being totally frustrated with politics. This often resulted in subsets of people such as those who decided not to show up, those who voted to prove a point, those who wanted change and those who wanted to stay with a particular party until they died.

It was a citizen’s right to stay with a party until they died, if they decided to do so. However, he felt politicians should be held accountable and, if they did not perform, should be removed. Griffith said if more people did this, politicians and political parties would not use them.

His son said his first time voting was a great experience and would not be his last.

Dyer-Griffith said the process was smooth and staff in the polling division were very professional, which facilitated a smooth flow.

She hoped everyone would take the opportunity to vote, as traditionally local government elections had a lower voter turnout.

“If the campaign is anything to be an indicator, we are hoping for a much larger turnout for this local government election because, essentially, (it) is a forerunner for what is to come in the very short future.”