Nicole Dyer-Griffith’s resignation as chairman of the Congress of the People (COP) will have no impact on the People’s Partnership’s chances in the upcoming general election, says former prime minister and UNC leader Basdeo Panday. “None whatsoever,” Panday said. The COP is a member of the five-party PP coalition government.
Panday said the COP was not even a political party but a pressure group seeking political power and was, therefore, irrelevant. He was responding to questions on the resignation of Dyer-Griffith at a COP National Council meeting on Sunday. She claimed 40 to 50 other COP members walked out of the meeting after she resigned, some of them also handing in their resignations.
But Panday said all of that was irrelevant in T&T politics since the existing political system did not cater for small parties. He added: “In the first past the post system in a racially divided society you will always have two parties. “This is how it has been for 50 years and it will not change until the constitution is changed. “Therefore, the COP is irrelevant. I don’t think the COP is a party at all. It’s just a pressure group looking for political power but I imagine people will have to revolt before we get that.”
Analyst speaks
Political analyst Mukesh Basdeo said while there might be some small immediate impact following Dyer-Griffith’s resignation, he was not foreseeing any huge impact. He said Dyer-Griffith has been hinting about forming another political party but she had very little time to do so before this year’s general election. “The latest the election can be called is September 17. That means there are six-and-a-half months to form a new party,” he added.
Basdeo said Dyer-Griffith may get some supporters since there were a lot of disgruntled citizens. He said third parties did perform well in local politics in terms of votes but that did not transcend into seats. Basdeo said coalition politics seemed to be the way forward in the Caribbean, citing Guyana and St Kitts as two examples. He said Dyer-Griffith’s political experience was being questioned. “She has been a senator, parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and COP chairman,” he noted.