No NTA, COP, HOPE alliance yet

THE joint appearance of the political leaders of the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), Congress of the People and HOPE (Honesty Opportunity Performance Empowerment) at an event to commemorate the memorial of the 1990 attempted coup, does not mean the three parties have formed an alliance to contest next year's general election, which is constitutionally due by November.

But the possibility of such an alliance being formed, remains on the table.

NTA political leader Gary Griffith, COP interim leader Kirt Sinnette and HOPE political leader Timothy Hamel-Smith made these comments on July 24.

A statement issued by HOPE on July 23 said Griffith, Sinnette and Hamel-Smith would attend the memorial at the Red House, Port of Spain on July 27 at 10.30 am.

The statement, which was signed by Griffith, Sinnette and Hamel-Smith, underscored the importance of acknowledging July 27 as a day of national significance and not a holiday.

In a Whatsapp reply to Newsday, Griffith said the attendance of Sinette, Hamel-Smith and himself at the memorial does not by itself signify that an alliance has been forged between their respective parties.

"I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. Certain comments being made. So it is not a coalition or anything like that. But what the NTA stands for, the reason why this political party was formed was we saw the importance for the transformation of TT and that you will be hearing about shortly."

Griffith said, "Through that transformation, it is based on us having a proper road map towards good governance. It is a template from some of the best minds in the country, independent who have no political affiliation and they have been instrumental in setting a chart towards the transformation of TT."

This chart, he continued, will focus on five key areas – national security, health, education, economy and energy.

Griffith said, "This is what we see as the unifying force that would bring people together, bring the country together, bring political parties together."

He believed that if political parties agreed to a common principle that would lead to the transformation of TT, "that is where the alliance (can) be held."

Griffith said it was not a repeat of the approaches that created the failed coalitions of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) (1986-1991) and the People's Partnership (PP) (2010-2015).

He added the root cause of the failure of both coalitions was the flawed concept of political parties joining together only to defeat the PNM but being unable to govern TT.

"Been there. Done that. The country does not want to see or hear about that again. They want to know is there a common factor other than just trying to team up to beat the PNM and that is what this is."

The concept of a proper alliance, Griffith continued, is to make sure it is more than just trying to get into government.

"It is about trying to ensure that we have certain principles towards good governance. Certain things that would be non-negotiable."

Griffith identified governments allowing criminal gangs to get massive, multi-million dollar state contracts as one such non-negotiable item.

The former police commissioner and national security minister said the phenomenon had been a catalyst in the escalation of crime.

"You give the gangs these massive state contracts. They use these tens of millions of dollars in excess profit to purchase more weapons, hire more gang members, get more drug blocks, have funds out to pay rogue police officers to turn a blind eye or cover their drug blocks and to put hits on other gang members to get their contracts.

Griffith said, "Government after government, they have done this."

He did not identify the political party in government when these developments were taking place.

Griffith said there was a particular party in which one individual who is not its leader, is doing everything possible to ensure that party contests the election by itself.

"That is their business. If you have not learnt from the past, then you will go and repeat your same mistakes and so be it. That is not our business. We are not hear to plead with anyone."

Griffith disclosed the NTA has sent correspondence to certain political parties which he did not identify.

"We have been having dialogue with other parties and I see us all being equals. We are all working together. We would have mutual respect for each other."

The lack of mutual respect was one of many reasons why the NAR and PP failed.

Griffith said, "Some people must feel they are more equal than others. That must not happen in a proper alliance."

He repeated, "This is not a case of one party feeling that they have more popularity or more support or media coverage that it makes them more equal and I'm using that word 'more equal' as it pertains to that same 'animal farm' concept."

Published in 1945 Animal Farm is a book by George Orwell which tells a political fable based on the events of Russia's Bolshevik revolution and the betrayal of the cause by Josef Stalin.

Griffith added, "When you get into authority, you forget where you came from. We intend to ensure there is mutual respect between all political parties."

After observing that "trojan horses" feature regularly in politics, Griffith provided an update on the state of affairs between the NTA and the UNC.

"As it pertains to the UNC, as I said we wrote (to them) and by not even having the common courtesy or the basic manners to even acknowledge correspondence, you certainly cannot expect people to take you seriously. You want to get into government to serve people and simple correspondence submitted to you. You do not have the basic manners and the common courtesy to respond. That says a lot about your leadership or lack of."

Griffith said, "So people like that with that attitude. Obviously they would not want to be part of an alliance of trying to have mutual respect for persons because if you can't even respond to correspondence, it says a lot about you and how you and how you think about everyone else. Why then would you want to have people like that (in an alliance)?"

He sent a message to supporters of political parties who have people who seem to have the ears of those parties' leaders and who are encouraging them to contest the election alone.

"I will ask those persons that they need to reconsider and start coming and working with us to form some kind of a unification, not just to get into government but to unite TT."

The NTA and UNC contested last August's local government elections as a coalition against the PNM.

Those elections ended in a seven-seven tie between the PNM and UNC. The NTA did not win any electoral districts in any of the 14 local government corporations. The party did, however, secure an alderman in the Diego Martin Borough Council.

On May 31, Griffith said if the UNC did not want to form a proper alliance with the NTA to contest the next general election against the PNM, the NTA would fight both parties across the board in all 41 constituencies.

He said in such a scenario, the NTA would direct the majority of its political resources into key marginal constituencies of which the PNM and UNC must win a majority to be elected to government in 2025.

In February, Griffith and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar fell out over statements she made at a UNC public meeting about other parties taking advantage of the UNC's resources but contributing nothing in return.

In a separate Whatsapp reply, Sinnette described the attendance of the NTA, COP and HOPE at the memorial as a step in the right direction.

He praised former NAR (now COP) activist Wendell Eversley's continued efforts to have July 27, 1990 acknowledged as a day of national significance.

Sinette hinted the memorial could set the stage for other developments.

"I think it can lead to other networking going forward."

Hamel-Smith, also commenting via Whatsapp, said, "The three parties are among a network of organisations which are having discussions regarding a potential alliance. The form that will take is dependent on how the discussions develop."

He disclosed that the July 27 memorial and a march scheduled for September were the only events the three parties were collaborating on at the time.

"We have an agreed work programme that we have adopted, which includes working on a common set of policies for governance and a vision for the country."

Hamel-Smith said, "The meetings we have held over the last 3 weeks have been very productive and we are confident that it will result in a political force to be reckoned with at the next general election."