In a news release issued late last night, Congress of the People leader Prakash Ramdhar described Jack Warner’s by-election victory as “a most dangerous development in the politics of our country.” As a result, he called for an urgent meeting of the People’s Partnership to rethink the direction of the Government. While congratulating Warner on his success, Ramadhar also warned: “We have witnessed the emergence of a new vulgar concept of the politics of money, based on the personal wealth of an individual versus politics of addressing the issues as in 2010.” The COP had called for Warner to step down as a minister in April when there were allegations of corruption during his tenure at Concacaf.
“The outcome of the by-election,” Ramadhar added, “also signals that the people are not satisfied with the performance of the government after three years.” He called for all the leaders of the parties of the People’s Partnership to meet as soon as possible “to determine the direction the coalition and government must now take,” saying the COP had formulated options and proposals with which to engage citizens. “However, we will first engage our partners on these issues,” he added.
Ramadhar said from the start the COP felt the significance of the by-election extended beyond the boundaries of the Chaguanas West constituency into national politics. He added: “This is not a failure of coalition politics; rather it is a demand that the People’s Partnership critically and sincerely re-examine its practice in keeping its commitments to the people and delivering good governance.” Ramadhar said in “this challenging situation” his party would continue on the path it set in 2007 and continued in 2010, to bring improvement to the conduct of politics and the life of the population, insisting that was only possible “with a new approach to our governance.”