Independent Liberal Party (ILP) political leader Lyndira Oudit has dismissed allegations that the party has aligned itself with the People’s National Movement (PNM), but is not ruling out joining forces with the Opposition. Responding to allegations by former ILP councillor Reneera Chan and former candidate Indarjit Seepersad that the ILP was working with the PNM, Oudit said yesterday the party had not engaged in any coalition discussions with the PNM.
However, she did not rule out the party’s being open to joining with the PNM for the 2015 general election. “That is not my decision alone to make. That is something for the executive to discuss,” she said. “We have explored many options within our meetings and privately, and that is personal to the party in terms of our discussions and our options available. (We will do) whatever is best for the country at this point.”
She added, “Sometimes you take six from one side, six from the other and you make your dozen. At the end of the day our membership has called out.” Oudit said she was not concerned about recent resignations from the party, as she maintained the ILP was not dead. In fact, she said, the party was now working hard towards getting ready for the 2015 general election.
“We are in strategy mode. I just came back from abroad a few days ago meeting with people in Atlanta who are wanting to know a little more about the ILP and what we are about, and me as political leader. “We are in strategy mode. We are developing our manifesto,” she explained.
Recently, Chan, the lone ILP councillor in the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation (TPRC), said it was against her conscience to continue to support the ILP, noting the party’s aim was solely to put the Opposition PNM back into power in 2015. Days later, Seepersad expressed similar views as he announced his decision to quit the ILP. They both have vowed to return to the United National Congress (UNC).
Yesterday, Oudit said given the party’s position on certain issues there might be a perception that it was aligned with the PNM and “it would seem that way because of the issues.” But, she said, “We are making our own strategic positioning. We are free to comment on any issue and we have full rights and privilege to comment on anything, whether it be from the opposition side or from the government side and that is where we are.”
Arguing her party’s case, Oudit said there were times when the ILP was critical of the PNM and its leader Dr Keith Rowley. This was the case, she said, when they voted in support of the Salaries Review Bill. She said the ILP was also critical of the government’s handling of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill.
“So we are not in allegiance to either one or the other and we are moving at a pace that tells us that we are free to criticise, or to condemn, or to show appreciation for,” Oudit added. She said she had nothing negative to say about Chan’s decision to leave the party, since the former ILP councillor had lost her mother recently. Additionally, she said, Chan’s brother was injured in an accident and that had also affected Chan.
“I know she is going through a very traumatic time and I would not want to add any burden whatsoever. “As a young woman who came forward, I believe this is a time for her to make decisions that would be best for her family, because they need to pull together,” Oudit said. She also asked how many people had left the Congress of the People (COP), the United National Congress (UNC) and the PNM, and pointed to Nal Ramsingh, a founding member of the UNC, who joined the ILP in August.
She said there were many people who left and came and went in political parties. “It is simply that some people feel the need to speak about it.” Calls to ILP chairman Jack Warner’s cellphone went unanswered yesterday.