UNC INTERNAL ELECTIONS HEATING UP

[00:00:01] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio Freedom 106.5. Joining us in the studio, gentlemen, he's been with us on numerous occasions and he's made his voice abundantly clear on his position when it comes to the internals and what could happen. Let's welcome to our program attorney Larry. Good morning to you. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi. Good morning. Satish. Good morning to all your listeners. [00:00:24] Speaker A: Nice to have you with us on the show. Nice to have you in studio. You know very much. Yeah, it's nice to have you here. And it's been a vibrant discussion, let me put it that way, on what has happened thus far leading up to the date being announced for an internal election for the natics election. And now you are at the stage where persons have filed to be candidates and you're going to have the launch of a team on Saturday which you've already expressed your support for. So let's start by you telling us about your decision to openly support Rushton Pari and his slate in this natics election. [00:01:08] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think first of all, before we get off the, get into the discussion, I think on Saturday it's actually nomination day. What has happened? The candidates proposed candidates papers have gone into the party just to ensure that everything is okay. I think we'll get them back today. And once, that is, once the documents are fine and they don't need anything, then formal nominations will be filed on Saturday. I think something we have, there's something we have to acknowledge, first of all, is that this election is very different from previous internal elections. I mean, I have fought two already. I fought in 2015 on Doctor Rudolf Munilal slate. I fought in 2020 on Bassan Bharat state. So this is my third time around. And each time what happened was the leader misses Kamala Prasad Besasser. She brought forward her election. As you may know, the election for leader of the party is every three years. The election for the rest of the natics is every two years. But previously, what happened on each occasion is she brought forward her election and you had a full election for the Natics and leader. This time it's very, very different. Satish this time the leader chose not to do that. And we have an election for all posts on Natics except leader. And I think that is something very significant. I think it's a good thing. I commend misses Prasad be Sessa for making that decision because what we saw in previous elections and members would notice and they will acknowledge this, is that the leader being involved in the election and being a candidate in the election sort of overpowered the voting, and people voted for her slate. Right. And people are free to make their decision as they see fit. I think in this election, the leader has done a very good thing by deciding only to have all offices of Natick's except hers, because it provides the party, the members of the party, with a very good opportunity and a free opportunity to vote for persons, as opposed to slate, and to give thought to how their voting power is going to be exercised in this election in order to reform the UNC. I think any right thinking member, of which there are very, very many in the uncle would agree with me that in order for the UNC to win a general election, there needs to be change in the UNC, in the personalities that populate the different offices in the UNC. And I think that because of the way this election is going to run, I think this provides a very good opportunity for that to be done. You asked me why I agreed to support MP Rushdan Parry and his team. I agree with the messaging that MP Parry has been putting out. He's all for change in the party. He has not been involved in any mudslinging. He has focused on the issues. And I think that if we focus on the issues in the UNC and we go into the election voting on issues and the persons we feel best suited to deal with those issues, I think, you know, persons would have, will find fertile ground and find a lot of attraction to the team that MP Parry is putting together for this election. [00:05:16] Speaker A: It's anywhere I go. [00:05:20] Speaker B: And let me just add this. What I like about MP Parry Rushton Pari is not a professional politician. He is an accomplished, self made businessman. He built himself and his business, very importantly, in the mayoral constituency over the years, over many, many years of hard work. So Rushton Pare knows how to build. He knows how to succeed in building. And I think that having someone like Rushton Parry in a key position on the executive of the United National Congress not only augurs well for the UNC, but it augurs well for the UNC when we get into government, because persons with his type of profile are what we need in Trinidad and Tobago at this point in time. We have to understand that these are not normal times in Trinidad and Tobago. I mean, if I have to explain and convince people of that, well, then we have a problem. I think everyone would understand that these are not normal times. We don't have the oil and gas revenue that we once did. You know, there's a lot of talk about drag and gas I saw that in the parliament. Minister Stuart Young said that the US decision recently in relation to Venezuela does not affect Trinidad. Well, today in the, I believe it's in the Guardian or the express, I'm seeing that BP has put a halt or pause on all discussions with Venezuela because they are unsure or they need to find out whether they could have continued discussions with Venezuela legally. So it appears that what BP is saying is inconsistent with what Minister Stuart Young said in the parliament quite recently in relation to the actions of the United States and how it affects what we are doing with Venezuela. And that is a very serious issue. The point I am making is we cannot, as a country, rely on gas revenues to sustain us, to take us forward. Therefore, what do we need? We need people in government and in our party who understand how we could create business, how we could have a self sustaining economy with our dependence on oil and gas. And I think Rushton Parry, with his track record, has shown that he is one of those persons who fit that profile and in my view, someone who we should have in a key position in our party. [00:08:09] Speaker A: Welcome back. We are speaking this morning with attorney Larry Lala. We're discussing some of the issues, some of the matters that have been discussed on the air and all over the place in relation to the UNC, its preparations for the general election 2025 and now its national executive elections to take place on June 15. We were talking before the break, and you were giving us some of the reasons as to why you've decided what your position is. And it's a decision that UNC members are going to have to make. The general community, the wider national community. They can have an opinion, but they can't cast a ballot. It's UNC members who are, at the end of the day, going to be able, they'll be eligible to say who they think should lead their party, who the national executive should be. That's probably one of the toughest decisions that confront them at this point in time, because already we've been hearing persons who are saying that they're going to go up. They've already been saying that, well, if you don't vote in a national executive that supports the political leader, you're going to have problems giving the insinuation that any other slate, other than that which endorses Kamala Posad Bisexa, is problems with the UNC moving forward. But anywhere I go, I can't get away from it. People want to talk about politics. They're concerned about what's going on with the country and if the UNC continues to uphold itself as the government in waiting, people want to make sure that when the election time comes around, that the UNC wins the election. And this national executive election has prompted a lot of discussions. What I find UNC supporters, those who are eligible to vote and speak to me, they are conflicted because one of the toughest decisions that they feel they need to make is do we continue with what we have or do we try something else? And that's a tough thing. Even in your personal life, holding on or moving on is one of the toughest decisions that you have to make because the level of uncertainty is high, you know, and it's the choice that UNC members are going to have to make when they vote in the national executive elections. One of the trends though, is that we've been seeing less and less people taking part in the UNC national executive elections. [00:10:37] Speaker B: Agreed. [00:10:38] Speaker A: So how do you think this time around is going to be? Do you think there's going to be a resurgence? Do you think people are going to come back out or they're going to be a lackluster approach? What do you think? [00:10:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Just to put a plug for myself, satish, I am contesting the post of chairman for the United National Congress on Russia and Paris Slate. [00:10:57] Speaker A: Okay. [00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah. So you read some very, very important points. I do not think that members should easily discount the views of the wider members of the. Of the society and the public in making their choice in relation to the snatu election. I'll tell you why. At the end of the day, any right thinking member of the United National Congress, any honest member of United National Congress would agree with me that we have to change the way the United National Congress tastes in the mouth of the average Trinidad Tobago citizen and voter. There is something about our party that has resulted in it having less appeal. I'm not saying it's unappealing. It has a great deal of appeal. Having less appeal to the national community or not enough appeal to help us cross the line and win a national election. And therefore it means that we have to make changes. I mean, if you're selling food, right, and you're losing customers, it could be that you have to look at, you know, how the taste of your food, you know, and therefore, in relation to the United National Congress, we have to consider in this election why we have been losing over and over again. And of course, leadership is very important. Leadership plays a very, very important role. But apart from leadership, you have to look at the persons who are there to support the leader, you have to consider whether the national community finds that support to be attractive, whether people would support those persons in a general election. And if the answer is no, then we need to make changes. And I want to suggest satish that the answer is no because it is a fact that we have been losing general election after general election. Therefore, the average member that you just referred to has to ask himself or herself the question, well, alright, do we need to do something different? And if we need to do something different, what is that difference? And who would be the persons who would make that difference? It can't be the same persons who have been getting us in trouble over and over again. And I'm not going to call any names, right? I mean, the members would know how they feel about different people. I'm not going to call any names because we have made a commitment among ourselves on MP Paris slate that we are running a clean election. We're not going to get involved in any ghata politics in this election. Because at the end of the day, Satish, come June 16, we all have to work together in order to get the UNC into government, in order to get the PNM out, so that we could have a better country. So it is very important that in this election we contain ourselves, so to speak, and are mindful of how we conduct ourselves. So that come June 16, we are all able to work together. [00:14:38] Speaker A: That has been one of the. I don't want to say one of the largest problems, but has been an issue that the UNC has not been able to, at least it seems, has not been able to smooth over the ruffled feathers and move on after you have these internal elections. Because these internal elections get nasty. [00:14:55] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I am of the view that with every internal election since 2015, the party has gotten smaller in terms of its influence, in terms of its punching power. And why? Because the people who have been elected have not committed themselves to bringing everybody together and making the party stronger. And we need people who could do that, who are prepared to do that, who are committed to doing that. Those who are there have shown that they are not interested in that, or they cannot see the importance of that. And therefore, we need people on board who are committed to that ideal, who are committed to drive all their efforts towards ensuring that we have a stronger and a better united National Congress, which is the aim of MP Parry and the state that he is leading. [00:15:51] Speaker A: The unfortunate thing. And, I mean, we'll take some calls in just a bit because I know that listeners will want to get involved in this discussion. One of the things you see is a vilification from persons within the party, of persons who are also of the party. That I find. I find. So it's unfortunate, and I'll tell you why. When MP Parry raised initially his concerns and said that, listen, we need to have the national executive elections and a couple others joined onto the call, you had what was, in my opinion, a concerted effort to paint these individuals in such a bad light. You started hearing about PNM operative and how they're working to undermine the party. And to this day, not a shred of evidence has been presented. [00:16:37] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's all pure invective. [00:16:40] Speaker A: So it's, as I said, it's going to be something that I'm sure that a lot of people are going to be paying attention to, simply to see how it works and what the opinion of the UNC member is, because they've been faced with this on numerous occasions. But in 2015, the number of losses that the UNC had under its belt was not as many as they have now. And the general elections of 2020 was telling, I mean, the UNC lost by 12,500 or something like that, votes overall. [00:17:11] Speaker B: In the middle of COVID In the middle of COVID the government was totally unpopular and failing. The government was locking citizens out of the country, right. Everything that the government did during COVID period, we were still unable to beat them. [00:17:24] Speaker A: But another thing that we've heard, and I mean, I'm not in the party, I'm not in party policy. I don't understand how this works, is that the organs of the party are not working. So if the organs of the party are not working, how is the party able to survive? I remember just before you answered La Pai, God bless his soul, who passed away recently, would call and he would lament many years ago that the constituency groups and this and that and the next were not functioning. And he predicted that the party would become weaker. Those were exact words. At some point in time he said that if you dont have strong party groups and the other arms of the party working, the party is going to get weaker. And we see a UNC today that has not been able to secure victory for, for whatever reason. But are these groups not functioning and not working to the way people are saying, yeah, absolutely. [00:18:13] Speaker B: I mean, all over the country I saw recently, I believe it was La Hoqueta, there was a meeting and you had people standing and being sworn in as members of party groups, but I have never seen that before in the uncle. And I don't know why. I mean, we have to appreciate the fact that in fighting the PNM we're dealing with a very organized, organized opposition. I don't want us to use the term enemy because I dislike the use of that term in our politics. At the end of the day, we are all citizens of trying Tobago and we have to find a way for everybody to work together for the better of the country. So. But when you look at the other side, when you look at the opposition, you see an organism that is very organized and that appears to function. When you look at us over the years, we appear to be very disorganized. You don't hear anyone praising the function of any organ of the party. And we cannot, in this day and age continue like that. We cannot play 2024 politics operating as we did in 2010 or 2015 or whenever we have to move with the times. I don't know how many of your listeners, how many of our members have been on Victoria Avenue recently where the new Balize house is going up and what the PNM has done. They broke down the old balize house, rebuilt it. And next to that there's a multi story, a multi story building going up. I don't know how the funds came for that. I mean, I find it very difficult to believe that the fundraising efforts of the PNM resulted in the legitimate fundraising efforts of the PNM, resulted in the acquisition of resources to put up those buildings. I mean, if the PNM was so good at fundraising, then you would expect to see the country being run better than it is right now. And it isn't. But anyway, that's a different issue. When you see what is being done, it is obvious that there's a certain level of foresight, a certain amount of planning, generational planning that is taking place in the PNM. Can we see? Can we really see that? We are seeing that in the UNC, right? We have been renting accommodation all over the country from pillar to post. I mean, really, for a party that has been established for so long, you mean we really can't raise $6 million to buy a piece of land and have even modest premises that we could call our own in this day and age? I mean, that is very difficult to build, believe. It's difficult to understand, but it goes to the point of planning. Are we planning for and do we plan for the establishment of an. Of an institution that will last generations that would have members could go in and have proper training where we could have a proper political school being run where we could have archives, where we could have a UNC museum, you know, with information on all the persons who historically contributed to the party, things like that. Are we thinking of like those things, or are we just thinking of, you know, winning the election for winning the election sake and for personal aggrandizement as opposed to building a strong institution? [00:22:05] Speaker A: There's information in the public domain that regardless of whether you like the PNM or you don't like the P and M when it comes to organization, you can't beat them. And they, we raised it recently on the program. Their general counsel meets all the time, very, very regularly. And these general counsel meetings, I was told by somebody who's actually attended one of those, they're very, very, the discussion is vociferous. Sometimes it's antagonistic. They don't go in there liking one another, you understand? And they raise the issues that they believe need to be raised as, as vicious as they need to. But when they come outside, it's a united front. And, I mean, there are things that the administration or that the party as a PNM is doing that says to you that they've already started the election campaign. I mean, you have the conversations with the prime minister. You can't get away from that. That is the prime minister giving the impression and actually going out and meeting people, whatever you have. The PNM now engaging in discussions at a national level for women. Their women's arm has some event coming up sometime not too long from now, a national discussion for women. Their youth elements are going out to communities and meeting and having little cottage meet. So they're working. And somebody sent me some of the things that were agreed upon at the last general council meeting. And you can tell that their focus is on ensuring that their presentation for 2025 is strong, using all of these various things. And you can't help but ask the question to a party that says they are the government in waiting. What are you doing and how are you? I don't want to say counteracting, but presenting as well to the nation, your perspective on many of these issues. And we hear about the various things the UNC will have. They have the Monday night forum, they have a midweek meeting, they have a Sunday press conference. But I don't know if these things are resonating with the matters. [00:24:01] Speaker B: And I get the impression I could be totally wrong. I get the impression that the strategy is, and the belief is that, look, the country is so upset with the PNM that come 2025 they're going to be running into the arms of the UNC regardless of who we are, regardless of what we do. I don't buy that theory. I don't see that happening. And again, I say, well, look at 2020, when the country was in a very bad state, when people were very unhappy with the PNM, and still it was not enough to convince the population to vote the UNC and the government. So if you accept that position, the question is, what do we do? We have to put forward a UNC that is more attractive. You cannot put forward a UNC that is more attractive by putting forward the same people who are there right now and therefore changes have to be made. And that is what this election is going to be about. At least I really hope so. I really hope that the members are going to be thinking voters. They are not going to be people who could be ushered into the voting station and be told to look, just go and put your expire symbol. Forget name and thing. Just put it by the symbol. That sort of approach the election is not going to serve anybody's purpose. It's certainly not going to serve the purpose of the members because you're going to end up in the same monkey pants that you're in right now. And come 2020, late 2025, the day after election, we're going to be in the same position that we're in right now. Do we really want that for our party? Do we want that for our members? We won that for our country. [00:25:47] Speaker A: Well, speaking about the same position, I did a bit of reflecting of politics and my role in the media and everything else, and I remembered that I was at Rienzi complex when the UNC held its national executive elections with the post of deputy political leader, where you had Carlos John Ramesh, Lawrence Maharajan. [00:26:10] Speaker B: Correct. [00:26:11] Speaker A: And Kamala Posai Besassar contesting. Now, it was one of my earlier roles of hosting a broadcast on politics. And I remember asking clearly then about Kamala Posad Besassa and whether or not she should be evaluated for the post on her strengths and weaknesses, or whether people are going to simply evaluate her on the gender, being a woman. And it sparked a really interesting discussion. Fast forward to today. I think that UNC members need to ask themselves the same question. How do you evaluate the party? How do you evaluate the stewardship? And does the gender play a role? Because there are some people who, I'm positive they can send a message, or when we open the phone lines, they'll tell us, well, I support Kamala because she's a woman, and these men are unfair to her. I hear that. But so many years later, is it still as relevant as it was back in 2010? Because those are the same allegations that were put that Kamala Posabi saysa was being untreated, but she's being treated unfairly by a set of men who don't like women and they're misogynistic. And this and that and the next and the other. But fast forward to 14 years later. Are those issues still relevant? Is the fact that Kamala Persad Besesa was the first female to lead the party, first prime minister, and all these other things should that way in the discussion in the minds of the UNC supporter? What do you think? [00:27:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you raise a very important point. Look at the names that you call. Ramesh, Lawrence, Mirage, Carlos, John. We are Jerry, yat, Ming. If we are honest ourselves, we would agree that the party is not attracting persons like that at its helm again. Persons like that with that level of accomplishment in our country are keeping away from the party. When people hear that I put my heart in the ring again, they say, boy, what are you doing? I was made senior counsel a year ago. I don't have to do this because I'm comfortable where I am. But if people in comfortable positions don't get involved in the politics of the country, what is going to happen? People who have shown that they're able to accomplish in their personal lives, if we don't get them involved in the party and in the country, what is going to happen? Look at what is happening now, right? Can we continue like that? And it comes back to your point. The members just simply can't vote because they like somebody, right? Because. Or because that person comes attached to a certain symbol or that person, a certain gender. Right? That is what has us in the problem that we're in right now. You have to address your mind to the issue. What is best for me as a member of the party? Right. What is best for the party? What is best for the country? You need to think about these issues and exercise your vote in an educated manner. Right. You know, some people would insult the members and say they vote like sheep. I would like to think that in this election they would appreciate the fact that we cannot continue doing things the way we have done it before and expect changes to occur. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Let's head to our phones. 6273 223-625-2257 our guest in the studio attenuated. We're talking about the national executive elections, the United National Congress let's see who we have. [00:29:57] Speaker B: Hello. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Good morning. [00:29:58] Speaker C: Good morning Satish. Good morning senior congressman. Mister Lala, very prominent attorney. As a member of the UNC, I believe that. I believe personally a coalition government could work. It's a tough thing to go on your own to deal with the PNM because of the PNM structure and as satisfied they are well organized, they go into the meetings quarreling, but after they come out, nobody knows the coral or anything. Morogati bland I haven't seen our mp or group since election into local and since the general election. You don't see that. You don't see groups coming. Find out the problems, the situation, what's taking place, how to do better. And as I remember, the reason why the UNC lost election is because of a lot of people. A lot of people take it granted that hey, this is the country. Terrible. I go stay home. I know we don't win already. That is one of the point. I could tell you that from the ground. The next thing, I wish you the best, sir. And I wish that when you get into government, I wish that you could get some arrangement to lower legal fees for citizens who are struggling and have legal matters. Because fees we have good cases, but we cannot go to a lawyer because the fees is sometimes more than what we will get. If you could do some adjustment when you come in government to help the citizens. Thank you. [00:31:38] Speaker B: Thank you very much, sir, for your expression of confidence. I want to slightly disagree with you on something that you said though. I believe that a strong and properly run united National Congress doesn't need any assistance to get into government. I mean, we have seen before in the year 2000. That is the example I always keep referring to where a properly run, a properly staffed and manned UNC is attractive enough to the population to get into government on its own without the assistance of any other party. That said, however, at a relevant point in time closer to the election, I believe that we have to have discussions with all parties to ensure that everyone is on board in the effort to bring change to our country. [00:32:36] Speaker A: Let's take another call. [00:32:38] Speaker B: Hello. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Good morning. [00:32:39] Speaker D: Morning sadish and Morning Mister Rara. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Good morning. [00:32:45] Speaker D: I'm not doing the party or any party, but the PNM reminds me of slavery and Indonesia. Let me draw a situation to you. We had representative democracy. Masa Rowley took away that and inflicted upon us his own concept of representative democracy, right? He took it away. He reminded me of we didn't have that at the time. He took it away. He took it away from us. Right. We had to go to the privy council to get it back. This is, in my view, a dangerous man. How would you deal with him? Thank you. [00:33:26] Speaker B: Well, the best way to deal with him is remove him. Right. And how are we going to remove him? We have to remove him. A stronger and united National Congress. And it. It could be done. It's very, very easy to do in my view. As well as it might be the most difficult thing to do. [00:33:44] Speaker A: Hello. Good morning. [00:33:46] Speaker C: Good morning. [00:33:48] Speaker B: Good morning. [00:33:50] Speaker C: What is the plan with complete representation of Trinidad and Tobago? Because I mean, take for instance, if you will never win some seats for. But they will always have representation there. But still, like Tobago. The uncle saying we'll never win Tobago. We're not going Tobago. Is that a change that we said to you under Mister parry? [00:34:17] Speaker B: Yeah. No, absolutely. Rushton firmly believes that we cannot call ourselves a national party if we exclude Tobago. We have to have a presence in Tobago. And we have to actively campaign in Tobago. I am not one of those who accept the view that the UNC has no place in Tobago. I believe that it is possible to make the party attractive. So that it could go to any part of the country. And have support in any part of the country. And that is what we have to do. That is what we have to aim for. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Taking on the call. Hello. Good morning. [00:34:59] Speaker E: Hi. [00:34:59] Speaker C: Morning, Prakash. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Good morning to you. [00:35:01] Speaker E: Morning to your guests. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Morning, sir. [00:35:03] Speaker A: No, Mister Lala. [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yes. [00:35:05] Speaker E: I heard you this morning say that your team wants to do nothing to damage the image of the party. Am I correct? [00:35:11] Speaker B: Correct this. All right. [00:35:12] Speaker E: But then on the other hand. I see Mister Rodney Charles, MP for Naparima. Making some claims that he's going to expose the secret of the UNC. And that is contrary to what you are saying this morning. [00:35:26] Speaker B: Well. Well, number one, I didn't hear the comment. Number two. MP Charles is not on the slate. [00:35:34] Speaker E: If he is not on the slate, he's on your platform. Because he was in Block Road on Sunday. Speaking on behalf of Mister Parry. [00:35:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:35:43] Speaker E: So to disassociate him from your slate is not justified. He's. He's supportive of your slate. And Mister Rushdon Parry. [00:35:54] Speaker B: No. [00:35:54] Speaker E: I want to tell you something. If you say your slate wants to do nothing to damage the image of the party. You see. Just by being on this radio station here making these claims. This is an injustice to the. [00:36:09] Speaker B: Making. What claims? What claims? [00:36:11] Speaker C: That. [00:36:11] Speaker B: I mean, right. No campaign on the radio because I'm campaigning on the radio because of the stronger party. [00:36:18] Speaker E: You are sending the wrong message to those who are sitting on the fence and want to choose a party to vote for. It shows instability, and it shows that the party is not united. When you and your colleagues come on, come to your duty. [00:36:33] Speaker B: Lenin, thank you. Thank you for your view. And that is why I was, I speak very slowly and very deliberately satish. At no time this morning did I express any negative view about any person. And that is the way I'm going to continue to run, to get involved and be involved in the campaign in this election. And I will do it publicly as well, because it has to be done publicly. [00:37:02] Speaker A: Well, Mayor Meru needs to be careful about how he makes. I remember there was kind of allegations. [00:37:08] Speaker B: There was a time when Meru had a lot of things to say about. [00:37:12] Speaker A: And he used to call the radio station as well, you know, but you cannot. And he has highlighted the comfort zone that some people find themselves in, whereas they are not willing to hear anything that is deemed to be not supporting the status quo. [00:37:32] Speaker B: Well, I think it goes a little deeper than that. I think that it is not that he is unwilling to hear it, but he doesn't want it expressed, which is something more fundamental and something more concerning, because we have under the constitution freedom of rights to freedom of expression, right to freedom of political association. Even within the United National Congress, we have a right to freedom of association. So is he saying that, look, we have an internal election, but nobody must be on any radio station, on any national program expressing any view. I mean, then what do you say about the Monday night forum, which is used by certain persons to, to campaign for the internals? I mean, is that fair? Is that right? So persons who have a different view have to find a way to express that view so that persons would know about the view. But at the same time, I agree with him that it has to be done in a way that maintains the. Protects the reputation of the party. And we have to find a balance between the interest in expressing our views, but at the same time, not tarnishing the image of the party, which I, which, I mean, I would. I'm surprised at what he said about washing dirty laundry on the air. I said nothing to bash anyone. [00:39:03] Speaker A: You see, it's about a go to response. [00:39:06] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Absolutely. Maybe he expected me to be bashing someone and washing laundry on air, but it's an unfortunate. He had a prepared statement, and he came and made a prepared statement without there being any context to support the statement. [00:39:18] Speaker A: But that's something that this russian Paris slate is going to have to confront over and over again. [00:39:25] Speaker B: We are not in any state of delusion about that. We know we will have to confront. [00:39:29] Speaker A: Let's confront the elephant in the room, because this is something the state will also have to confront. I don't know if we spoke about it or we're going to deal with it directly. The position has already been espoused by persons that anybody on any slate or any individual contesting that does not have the endorsement of Kamala Persad be Sesa, or rather the opposite. That does not endorse Kamala Posadbi Sessa, even though you've made no pronouncements on that thus far, is the enemy and they ain't good for the party and is the worst thing to happen and so on. Let's just say this slate that Rushton Paris putting together wins. How do you, how does this slate expect the relationship, the working relationship with a political leader that did not endorse you to work? How is that going to happen? Because that's something that might be, that might be one of the biggest issues for people. Yeah. Nah, you know, I ain't too satisfied with the way this thing going, but if I vote Rushton and employee, how we go work with Kamala Posad B sase work or we will just cause more problems. What can people expect? [00:40:34] Speaker B: First of all, I would say expect that misses Persad be Sessa not being a candidate in the election, that she would not endorse any personal group. I mean, we have seen before in the party's history how that worked out in the days of Mister Pandey and Carlos, John and Ramis, Lawrence, Maharaz, etcetera, etcetera. And I would hope that that would not happen. At the end of the day, once the election is done, then there's only one UNC and there's only one aim and goal of that UNC, and that is to remove the PNM. And therefore one would expect. And certainly once I'm elected, I intend to play the role to ensure that we have that very singular focus, that is of putting forward the strongest UNC to remove the PNM. And we all have to find a way to work together. Even my good friend Mayor Miru, who is a good friend. I mean, I don't know why he saw it fitted call and make such a statement a short while ago, but Miru and I would have to work together come June 16 to ensure that we have, that we achieve the singular goal of the UNC. [00:41:42] Speaker A: Sometimes when you hear the comments made on the political platform, you really gotta ask yourself the question. If people don't realize that they're part of the same party. [00:41:49] Speaker B: No, absolutely. We're not enemies. We have brothers and sisters working towards a common goal. [00:41:56] Speaker A: There are some messages sent in here. Let me just get to one. One saying voices like Mister Lala are what will get those on the fence and the middle class voters level headedness. Another this is a voice message. Let's take a listen to this voice message. [00:42:14] Speaker F: Good morning Satish. Good morning Mister Lala. This is a very rational discussion, very welcome discussion that you're having this morning on this matter of the internal elections. My own view is that the current Natex or natics whatever is not the kind of natics, nor does it have all the competencies required in order to take us forward to win the next general elections. The same natics has been repeating the same strategies without success. What, what the voting public can do at this point in time, and that is the UNC members, is to take the bold and very courageous leap to give misses Bisexa a new executive, a totally new executive whom they think will have the competency in order to win the next general election. We are nothing in politics unless we have the opportunity to govern the country. And if we don't have the opportunity to govern the country, we really cannot serve people with the efficiency and effectiveness that we desire. I have the greatest admiration for those who are putting up themselves for office, but I urge, I urge the voting members to give Misses Bsesa the kind of executive who will be able to bring fresh ideas, to invent new strategies and to go steps ahead of the PNM in the next general elections. [00:43:51] Speaker A: And thank you. That's of course Doctor Ramachan sending his voice note. [00:43:54] Speaker B: I was going to say it's a. [00:43:54] Speaker A: Very familiar voice, but is that the perspective people should adopt? Not an executive that is antagonistic, but an executive that is supportive? [00:44:03] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, the members need to ask themselves, what, what do we think the rest of the country would find appealing? Right? And that is what we have to put forward to the rest of the country, because at the end of the day, that is who we are selling our product to. Right? What are we going to, what are we going to use to convince the persons in Tunapuna, in St. Joseph, in Toko Sangre Grande, in Miaro, in Maruga to vote for the UNC? Because without their support, we're going to be exactly where we are right now, in opposition and five more years of this failed, floundering government. I don't know what type of country we'll be left with. And I don't know who will be left in this country because satish. It is a fact that with the amount of extortion taking place of businessmen small and large from the doubles vendor go right up to the big businessmen are facing. Facing are being taxed, quote unquote, by gangs in the various areas. A lot of it is not being reported. But extortion we see kidnapping has reared its head again. And violent crime, home invasions. From what is happening right now, persons are leaving the country in droves. When you look at, for example, Facebook and you see the types of properties being sold, those are not houses that expats who no longer come to Trinidad used to live in. Those are houses that middle class families used to live in. And they are selling their properties for whatever they could get for it. And they are leaving Trinidad in droves. We cannot allow this situation to continue. The uncle has a responsibility to up its game so that it could be in a position to prevent the city, the country from continuing on its downward spiral. [00:46:13] Speaker A: I notice if we have time for another call. Let's see if we have a quick call, if we can squeeze in. Hello. Good morning. [00:46:20] Speaker G: Sorry. Good morning, Mister Lala. Good morning to you. Satish. [00:46:23] Speaker B: Good morning to you. [00:46:24] Speaker G: I was just listening. Just. We come on the phone now to listen to hear some of the points that you have. What you are comparing the machinery of the political machinery of the PNM versus the political machinery of the UNC. But when you compare Kamala Persad besesser and you are looking back at Carlos John, that's 2001, and Ramesh Maharaj, and so. But we have to look at the latest, 2015. And when you look at her governance and you compare it with the governance that we have at present. Because UNC, that they were in opposition all the time. Even though the PNM was so well organized today, how well is the PNM organized business? If the UNC were in power in terms of crime, in terms of employment, in terms of all of these things. And then now you have the executive elections that are coming up. And I have to compare now what, what's their Kamala prasadi says and what Mister Parry's team is coming up with. And I haven't seen any meetings with him. I don't know what to compare with. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Thank you. That's. Sorry, I have to cut your call short, but we ran out of time. Tusker just walking his studio and she gave me the eyes. So I know I had a vacated chair and all that kind of thing. But you see, it goes back again to the point that I was trying to reach. She missed the discussion about Kamala Posad be Sesa. It wasn't about track record and this and that. It was about how do you evaluate someone? And she was going back again. She needs to evaluate russian parent evaluate. She said, Kamala Posadbi saysa. Even though Kamala Posadbi saysa is not in the election. So it shows how people confuse the issues in their mind. So as we end our discussion, I know that we will have the live broadcast of the launch on Saturday at 07:00 p.m. so to the people listening and to the people who are important, which are the UNC members, in your opinion, what rarely should they be considering when they go into that voting booth. [00:48:23] Speaker B: On the 15 June, where are we as a party and where do we want to go? What do we have to do to get there? We cannot keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, which is what we have been doing since 2015 and the times have changed significantly. We need to have drastic change in the UNC if we had to put the UNC in a position to win government come 2025, and I strongly believe that that could be done. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure that we're going to have numerous discussions with both sides and all the sides and all the players and everybody, because there's an open invitation to anyone who wants to come on the program to speak. And that is there for. Because I believe listeners need to have access to as much information on all points of view, whether you agree with it or you don't agree with it. It gives you more information with which to equip yourself to make your decisions. And on the 15 June, if anybody had to make a decision, it's the UNC's membership, that's for sure. Monday is the by election, but we'll discuss that. I want to thank you for being with us here this morning, giving us your point of view, the best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio Freedom 106.5.