Jeremie: I'm scared for Trinidad and Tobago

FORMER attorney general John Jeremie said he was scared for the future of Trinidad and Tobago, speaking in a video shared to media houses by the opposition, on April 15, the day after he had appeared on a UNC platform in Siparia.

Earlier, Newsday visited his St Vincent Street, Port of Spain office and called and sent messages to his phone but there was no response.

The video showed Jeremie seated between broadcaster Louis Lee Sing, a PNM-appointed former mayor of Port of Spain who since co-founded the HOPE party with attorney Timothy Hamel-Smith, and political commentator Prof Selwyn Cudjoe.

Jeremie said, "For me to be here today, doing something that is not in my comfort zone, should tell you how scared I am for the future of this country."

Lee Sing asked Cudjoe his views about the state of the PNM.

Cudjoe said, "The major contradiction of the PNM – once they get into power, they betray the people who put them into power."

Jeremie agreed, "The abandonment of a large section of its traditional and core base."

Cudjoe chimed in, "Which has led to a classic state of instability."

Lee Sing asked, "Do you believe your party has stood for you?"

Jeremie said, "The fact is that the opposition party (UNC) represents perhaps the only hope."

In his brief address at Siparia, Jeremie had urged an end to race talk ahead of the April 28 general election.

He also urged listeners to take a good, hard look at the state of the country today.

"I beg you to look at this honestly. To say that our country is in crisis is an understatement.

"The criminal element is threatening to overwhelm us all."

He said that was the conclusion of the government, which had recently declared a state of emergency, now expired.

"The economy is beyond crisis. We have spent all of our reserves in the past ten years, and all the economic and social indicators suggest that we are in a place beyond crisis.

"Are you going to continue with those who have driven us to the point of crisis? The logical answer must be no."

The Parliament website traces Jeremie's political career.

It said in the Ninth Parliament (29 May 2009 – 25 May 2010), he had served in the Senate as attorney general in a PNM government.

Further, in the Eighth Parliament (10 Nov 2003 – 7 Nov 2007), Jeremie returned to the Senate as attorney general.