00:00Former National Security Minister Jack Warner joined former Minister of the
00:04People Dr. Glenn Ramadarsingh's Central Conversations podcast on Thursday to
00:09discuss the political party they once represented, the UNC, as that party, led by
00:15opposition leader Kamala Prasad Bissessa, prepares for the general election due
00:20this year.
00:30In 2010, Mr. Warner won the Chagones West seat for the UNC. In 2011, FIFA announced
00:55that as a consequence of Mr. Warner's self-determined resignation as FIFA
00:59vice-president, all ethics committee procedures against him have been closed
01:04and the presumption of innocence is maintained. However, Mr. Warner resigned
01:08from the cabinet and as a member of Parliament in 2013 following a
01:13CONCACAF report, but won Chagones West in the resulting by-election for his party,
01:19the ILP. In 2023, Mr. Warner joined opposition leader Prasad Bissessa at a
01:25UNC public meeting. Last December, the Express newspaper quoted former UNC
01:31chairman Warner as having said that he has the, quote, ambition to return as one
01:36of the strongest defenders of the UNC, end quote.
01:55Because at the end of the day, you cannot fight the PNM by being half-pregnant or being half-full. You're either pregnant or not. You either fight them with full force or not. And those are the things you have to do as a minimum if you want to gain office.
02:11The opposition UNC has declared it is united following its internal elections
02:16last year, in which the slate led by Miaro MP Rashdan Pari lost to the slate
02:21endorsed by Mrs. Prasad Bissessa. Dr. Ramadarasinghe, a former UNC general
02:26secretary who had his cabinet appointment revoked in 2014, said on
02:31Thursday that wherever he goes, people speak to him about the help he and Mr.
02:36Warner provided when they were in the partnership administration.
02:39And I said, I want to talk to Jack so that we could talk about how we were able to take government policy and get it in the ground and make things work.
02:50Because I think people want to feel that. They want to see that. They want to dream that. And they want that to come back.
02:57Dr. Ramadarasinghe said Mr. Warner set high standards for implementing government policy, including national security.
03:03Right now, there is no trust in the police. They lack confidence. You have so many police officers who are now in Remand Yard, for example, who are charged with all kinds of crimes.
03:13You have to have this trust. And when your prime minister could go and tell the public that the police are hiding from the criminals, that destroys the police morale. So that doesn't help them. In fact, that helps nobody.
03:26Mr. Warner also said there are businesses afraid to do business in Trinidad and Tobago, as he made reference to the high level of acts of gun violence, including murders, in recent years.
03:38Trinidad and Tobago is presently under a state of emergency without a curfew or restrictions on public gatherings, as the government has said it does not want to bring a halt to economic activity.
03:49Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
Comments