Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah said his party was not at all surprised that the Third Force Movement (TFM) has collapsed.
In a statement on Thursday, he said: “It can now go down in history as the party with the shortest shelf life in T&T. Something like a snow-cone on a boiling hot day. The reasons for this meltdown are quite obvious. The ‘party’ was an amalgam of persons who were shopping around for the best way to get some political office.
“They stated they were meeting with both the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC).
“The fact that even before the TFM was launched, two of its principals—Timothy Hamel-Smith and Gerald Yetming—had publicly met with Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar and explicitly endorsed her as Prime Minister, while Carson Charles is unabashedly pro-UNC, was an indication that they were not serious about building a real alternative to the old ethnic politics of the UNC and PNM.”
He said TFM was a pick-up side and was neither a “force” nor a “movement.”
“The TFM indeed turned out to be a farce,” he added.
Abdulah said TFM had no vision, was “another PP, political poachers, having poached the Scout symbol of three fingers. They poached the MSJ’s colour of sky blue and they poached their ‘three principles’ from other parties, including the Congress of the People.
“Most importantly they said and did nothing to build the trust and confidence of the people. They simply assumed with great arrogance that some high-profile individuals backed by big bucks is the formula to win votes,” the statement said. (GA)
Racial undertones in campaign
Independent Diego Martin West candidate Phillip Alexander has said that in one week two incidents occurred that “exposed the harsh truth as to the underlying racism permeating local politics.”
He referred to comments by Health Minister Fuad Khan and PNM Laventille West candidate Fitzgerald Hinds. Alexander criticised Khan’s reported comments about a video showing Chinese people allegedly skinning a dog’s carcass. He said some of Khan’s reported statements were insulting to the Chinese population locally and Khan had not launched a probe to find the actual culprits in the video.
He said Hinds’ recent “Westmoorings cesspit” comments attacked not only Timothy Hamel-Smith of the TFM, but also those who dared to support Hamel-Smith.
“In a civilised country the public response to the behaviour of both would be so emphatic and sure that both would have lost their positions with their respective organisations and would have been made to fade into the political sunset.
“In a first world country the media would have also seen its responsibility to racial cohesion and social harmony and would have taken both men to task over their heinous statements until they at least apologised, but this is not a civilised country.”
Alexander criticised the leaders of both parties over Khan’s and Hinds’ statements, also taking issue with alleged statements by PNM leader Keith Rowley about wanting to “see the faces” and “taking the names of persons” of East Indian descent who wanted to come to Port-of-Spain to protest in support of their MP.