PDP to launch election campaign in August

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke said his party remains a force in Tobago and will launch "the biggest political campaign" the island has ever seen in August.

In an interview on Tobago Updates on April 8, Duke said he recently held a meeting with Chief Secretary Farley Augustine to discuss a number of matters.

He called on Augustine to work with him for the betterment of Tobago, ahead of the general election and THA elections, both constitutionally due in 2025,

"I have had some discussions with Farley Augustine and I said to him that now is the time to put Tobago first."

Duke said Augustine's administration has achieved very little since coming into power.

He warned Augustine that he "cannot wait till election date to recognise that you have not only lose (support) but you've also murkied the water so that no one wins."

Duke said he's looking forward to a response from Augustine.

"Based on his answer, I will know how to progress."

He said when it was a six-six tie between the PNM and the PDP in the January 2021 THA elections, he had proposed for the PNM and PDP to form a coalition administration. He claimed the PNM refused and later were demolished 14-1 in the December 2021 THA elections.

He said a similar fate might await Augustine if he refuses to work with the PDP.

"People must be able to see us working together and see that I am able to make a difference in the lives of Tobagonians.

"I'm not looking for a coalition, I'm saying we have to work together. Clearly, on his own, he's not successful at any good thing that Tobago demands of him.... Tobago is suffering.

"We don't have to be friends. We don't have to be pally-wally."

He said he deliberately chose to relinquish power following the rift between Augustine and himself in 2022, which stemmed from a public spat over the funding of the Roxborough Folk Performers' cultural tour of New York.

Augustine had threatened to remove Duke as Deputy Chief Secretary. The PDP boss later stripped Augustine and Health Secretary Dr Faith BYisrael of their PDP deputy leader positions. He then resigned as Deputy Chief Secretary.

"I could have stayed there as Deputy Chief Secretary and fight them every day – and bet you they couldn't have moved me.

"If they called a no-confidence vote I would have filled Scarborough with people. It would have been real ole mas, fight and bacchanal in town.

"I didn't do that. I didn't have to show my strength. I took the exit when they showed me the door.

"From the to now, I've maintained soberness and distance and given them sufficient time to show what they are capable of. If I am to grade them on what they are capable of, they are not capable of fulfilling the mandate that was placed upon them. The people in Tobago are disappointed in the level of commitment to the ideals they once (had)."