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  • 10 months ago
The Mickela Panday-led Patriotic Front is condemning what it sees as race-baiting, in the EMBD criminal case against Dr. Roodal Moonilal and some contractors.


Panday believes the remarks made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, only serve to sow seeds of discord among the population.


Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00Very old tired politics. That's how patriotic front leader Michaela Pandey
00:04refers to remarks made by United National Congress leader Kamala Prasad
00:08Bisesa that have been labeled a race-baiting.
00:11I had to put out a statement because it triggered or acted as a catalyst for
00:20people to treat each other terribly, treat each other really, really, really, really badly on social
00:25media platforms. So that's not what people in leadership positions are
00:31supposed to do. When you have a platform that people listen to you, who does that help?
00:38It does nothing besides create divide and we in the patriotic front stand totally against that.
00:46On Friday, Prasad Bisesa referred to the Prime Minister's utterances about the
00:50UNC's awarding of contracts in the EMBD matter as a deliberate and
00:55coordinated racist propaganda campaign for the PNM ground troops to use in the
01:00general election. She went on to say that the People's National Movement's
01:04campaign for decades has always been to paint Indians as UNC voting thieves,
01:09idol worshipers, lagoon dwellers, rum drinkers and cane cutters who have no
01:15moral and spiritual values. Pandey says while the comments on social media were
01:20not necessarily racist, they were disgusting all the same.
01:24It is probably a party support view, either one political side or the other.
01:30And then hate, they begin to spew hate and vitriol because the leaders in
01:37society provide the catalyst for that to happen.
01:40Meanwhile, Pandey continues to gear up for the 2025 general election, expressing
01:45an intention to contest all 41 seats in Trinidad and Tobago. She says so far, the
01:51screening process has been going well and her party has named seven candidates.
01:55Togo, Sangre Gramey, Komoto, Manzanilla, Malabar, Maltica, Caxton Bay, San Fernando East,
02:00Princess Town and Tobago West.
02:02But Pandey tells us that it has opened her eyes to the fear of victimization over political affiliation
02:08from people on the ground who might have the desire to serve.
02:11And you know what I found as well? That when you have someone who says,
02:16listen, I'm going to bite the bullet and I'm going to do this, you sometimes find a spouse saying,
02:20listen, things are too hard. Or, you know, if they take away your job, if they victimize you.
02:27Pandey indicates that she has had requests to meet from other political parties,
02:31but they have not met as yet.
02:33UNC dissident Dr. Rai Ragbir has not been accepted by the PNM.
02:38TV6 News asked whether there are any discussions surrounding him joining the patriotic front.
02:55As it pertains to ideas that a patriotic front's presence in the general election will split UNC votes, Pandey weighs in.
03:08That's number one. Number two, in order to split a vote, you have to have the ability to win.
03:15Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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