THE EDITOR: Speculating about which political party can unseat the PNM at general election 2025 is all one can envisage at this point in time. Rampant crime continues to be misused/misinterpreted as the flag-waving vehicle to use when announcing political victory in 2025.
I doubt very much that bandits bother to vote. Even with people saying that gangs are getting bigger I also doubt there can reasonably be more than a few hundred lost votes, not endless thousands.
What is of note is that there appears to be this idea that all gangsters are Afro-Trinidadian in appearance and are also PNM party card holders. This is unfortunate fearmongering for all citizens and especially so for Afro-Trinis.
No political party can defeat the PNM without the support of a significant number of Afro-Trini citizens. TT is comprised of so many races that it is quite amazing. So of course we also have thousands of citizens who are Afro, Chinese, Indo, Portuguese, Spanish, French Creole, mixed.
Every single vote counts, no matter how you look.
Crime is not the only political elephant in the room. Personal ignorance regarding the negatives of race-bashing will haunt each aspiring party hoping to govern TT.
The PNM has, from inception, been open to all races and religions. Always a winning combination before setting out to vote.
It beggars belief that any intelligent voter will think the opposition parties can hope to win GE 2025 based on negative inferences regarding Afro-Trinidadians/Tobagonians. Never before has it been so important to win their vote if one desires to win the election.
It is reasonable to expect that anti-PNM rhetoric will say that everything PNM is bad. That is par for global political behaviour.
So, would you believe there are indeed a significant number of well educated, intelligent Afro-Trinis who are as normal as everybody else and will vote exactly as they please?
Ask yourself this: how many unreported home invasions claims are true? Why are the police not always called? Is this part of ramping up the crime narrative for political points? What? They killing we for spite?
Rubbishing the men and women of our protective services is just plain brain dead and not voter-catching. They have friends and relatives who vote.
TT is worth fighting over. Describing it as Haiti is not a true political calling card. Crime as a political tool will not win GE 2025.
We need to examine more of the political "fine printing." Investigative reporters, where are you?
LYNETTE JOSEPH
Diego Martin
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