DOOKERAN: COP READY FOR SNAP ELECTIONBy COREY CONNELLY Sunday, December 6 2009
The Congress of the People (COP) is ready for battle should Prime Minister Patrick Manning announce a general election date now.
COP political leader Winston Dookeran yesterday signalled that the party had already put its machinery in place to form the next Government of Trinidad and Tobago and bring deliverance to the people. Dookeran made the declaration while addressing supporters at the official opening of the COP’s Flagship House at Broome Street, Woodbrook.
The facility, which would house the main administration offices of the COP for matters pertaining to the East-West Corridor and Central Plains, is meant to be a meeting point through which citizens from all corners of the country could deliver ideas to COP’s leadership.
It would also serve as a base for discussion and the hosting of conferences, according to the wording of a glossy leaflet that was distributed to supporters.
The launch featured a flag-hoisting ceremony as well as entertainment by Woodbrook Playboyz and calypsonians Bally and Shadow.
Ironically, the building is situated alongside an office occupied by frontline UNC MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh. Dookeran’s announcement came as he outlined the party’s plans to convene a meeting of the leaders of the United National Congress (UNC), National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) and Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) early in the new year to tackle the burning issue of constitutional reform.
“Some have said that we shall have a snap election which will deny us time for this dialogue. If this is so and if we do have a snap election, I assure you we shall have a snap response to bring victory to the people. We shall make no mistake in bringing victory this time around,” Dookeran declared amid loud applause and cheers from supporters.
He said Flagship House was a clear indication that “we are ready for any elections NOW.”
Dookeran said the COP was now a force to be reckoned with on the political landscape.
“The message is loud and clear; we are here to stay and are a vital part of our political history,” he said, as if rallying his troops.
“We are the only major political party in our country that was formed in this century, we are challenged to creating a future different from the past, a future that will affirm the unity of peoples, a future to confront the global challenges of our times, a future where we shall lift our country to a place we have not been before and to heights that move all our people to freedom.”
The COP, which fielded candidates in all 41 constituencies in the last general election, did not win a seat in the Parliament.
Even Dookeran, the party’s leader, lost his long-held St Augustine seat to the UNC’s Vasant Bharath. Despite its loss at the polls, the party, launched in September 2006, still enjoyed a proud showing by amassing 148,000 votes and making significant inroads in several PNM and UNC strongholds.
The party, through its executive, has since kept a brave face, capitalising on its successes and commenting on major issues affecting the country. Yesterday, Dookeran focussed on one such issue - constitutional reform.
He said very shortly, the party would be going to the people through public consultations to discuss the principles of constitutional change. “We must reject government without accountability to the will of the people,” added Dookeran.
The COP leader said there must be a political formula that would preserve the constitutional integrity of the country.
“We must defend our nation from the dangers to our democratic rule that Manning’s draft constitution poses to the way we govern ourselves,” he said.
Among those lending solidarity to yesterday’s launch were former independent senator Mary King, former Senate President Michael Williams, historian Brinsley Samaroo and former national security minister Joseph Theodore
