Popular vote just a number

THE EDITOR: The local government elections 2023 were indeed the most interesting ever. The elections proved that both the PNM and the UNC continue to be masters of their own popularity. The political analysts with the doctorates can say what they want. Good sense prevailed. And, as usual, third political parties are left grasping at straws.

Did Kamla Persad-Bissessar, leader of the UNC, really and truly need Gary Griffith or Jack Warner to bolster her personal popularity? Did they need her more than she needed them? Or, put another way, one could say that where the UNC membership felt jaded by the lack of forward thinking regarding realistic economic planning, Griffith (NTA) and Warner (ILP) merely painted over the holes left by important crossover talented UNC people.

Plain talking is not bad manners. Rampant crime continues to be the elephant in the room. The guns, legal or illegal, are killing both gangsters and innocent citizens. We do not need 500,000 citizens to be armed with legal guns. To do what? Kill the rest of us? Because, as dramatically explained by letter writer Orson Rogers, domestic violence aided and abetted by FULs will "do the dirty."

Rampant domestic violence is the fatter of the elephants in the room. Watch this space.

So, what is true political popularity? Three-quarters of UNC supporters live in three-quarters of the country and it has not been able to win sufficient realistic support anywhere else, even with coalitions. Meanwhile, like it or not, the PNM has quietly invaded prime UNC territory.

Crossing the political floor can hurt with a pain to be felt at general election 2025.

Let us face the facts. The popular vote is just a number and the PNM was built to last through hell and high water.

Siparia belongs to Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Diego Martin belongs to Keith Rowley. End of story.

Everybody else just went along for the ride.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin