Restraint is also a Virtue... (Hold your hand COP)

Having been a champion of the emergence of the center from the very start and one of the strongest voices against the marginalization of the Congress of the People over the years i feel that i have earned the right to offer an opinion to the membership of that party that i helped to build even though I am no longer a member of it.

I was the one who exposed Prakash Ramadhar, Joseph Toney and Nirad Tewarie as the tip of the spear of an agenda cabal within the COP, and by that exposure have been instrumental in the removal of two out of the three and, based on that work, it is now only a matter of time for the last remaining member of that unholy destructive trio.

Having said all of that, I reject Bhoe Tewarie's nonsensical, self serving statement that the COP cannot survive on its own outside the Partnership and I call on him instead to walk away from that party and take his weak belly with him. The COP had every chance then and has every right now to aspire to be a full national party.

The ideals that birthed a movement outside of the tribal and corrupt UNC and PNM still exists and the dream is still alive.

Can the COP in its current shape and form be the vehicle for the establishment of such lofty ideals as the new political center?

In a word, no.

The party has zero goodwill, is compromised by the actions of its office holders and board appointees who have sought to use those same ideals as a means to their own self enrichment and may not be worth the effort required to save it.

Make no mistake though, the four hundred and fifty to six hundred thousand disenchanted, non aligned and 'floating' voters still exist and are still dreaming that dream, but if i were to advise the movers of that motion to oust Prakash and his cabal i would tell them forget it. That the party is a shell of its former self, that it has no members and that it represents no one.

What they ought to do instead is to call a mass meeting of all the former members as well as the non aligned and begin the process of dialogue and re-creation of a new vehicle under the banner 'The Dream is Still Alive.'

This would have two powerful effects:

1) It would prove to the world once and for all that neither Prakash Ramadhar nor Jack Warner speaks for those very important voters.

2) It would bring hope, decency, morality and integrity back into the politics and would put family values and high ideals back on the front burner.

This is important work and it must be done to remove the dank smell of compromised values and power hungry visionless political rabble that exists on both sides of the ethnic divide, but, as has been said forever when dealing with things of this nature, timing is everything.

If I were to advise them at all it would be to put things in place and be ready to move, but to hold your hand until after the July 29th election. For now focus on the enemy at hand.

It is my view that Jack Warner's political aspirations would be over were he to lose his challenge for the Chaguanas West constituency and that is in everyone's and this nation's best interest. The Congress of the People needs to adopt the maxim that the enemy of my enemy is indeed my friend and close ranks with its existing partners to achieve this end. The COP needs to see the bigger picture here and not only support Khadijah Ameen, but work hard to get her elected.

The idea of 'first things first' should be the guiding principle in all of this; where political expediency once dominated the process, rational forethought and sensible planning ought to guide any short and even medium term actions going forward.

Once the threat of Jack Warner and all of his machinations and distractions are behind us then everyone can go back to the important work of bringing integrity-based service of the people back as the reason for government. Until then, my friends in the COP, i urge you, think clearly, act rationally, become the ideals the party espouses. The voters of this country have been demonstrating a remarkable sophistication in their choices lately, and i sincerely doubt if the rationale behind this action would be lost on them.