Coalition (PP) partners put in double face time with the public over Thursday and last night with public meetings in St Joseph (COP) and St Helena (UNC) ahead of buckling down to business next week with screening nominees.
This will likely occupy the parties until after the Eid ul Fitr (July 18) holiday, following which campaigning is expected.
But if media moguls and other business people projected bumper financial success from the 2015 general election campaign, they may have to wait in line behind attorneys to whom various People's Partnership members have resorted in recent days following the bid by embattled Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner to mire the Prime Minister and PP in political mud.
His "ganja discovery" salvo has been followed with lurid allegations targetting the PM's leadership, which is the PP's foundation.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's leadership skill is being tested in a category of its own by the Warner issue.
In the face of the attacks, the PM has attempted to promote a strong profile, a rebuttal to People's National Movement (PNM) accusations that she's weak.
(In tandem with that latest PNM criticism of her has been the Opposition's bid to offer leader Dr Keith Rowley, with a positive spin of his personality as a "strong no-nonsense authoritarian figure which T&T needs (as one PNM official put it), while simultaneously promoting a friendlier, down-to-earth leader in ads of a broadly smiling Rowley now "washing" some sites).
Warner's Sangre Grande statement on Thursday–that the day he resigned from Government in April 2013 was the beginning of the end "for them"–confirms his intent from way back then and prompts queries whether he'd been keeping tabs on people all throughout his time in Government and what purpose this may have eventually been directed to within PP if he hadn't had to resign.
Ken Emrith, who once worked with Warner–but no longer does–confirmed he'd had Warner as a guest along with various UNC/PP officials–Ganga Singh, Gerald Yetming, Carson Charles and others–at his January birthday party and from this flowed several gatherings to unite/bring peace to the various parties.
"It was purely my own initiative, my intentions were noble; the Prime Minister knew nothing of it."
"But nothing developed and no meetings occurred after March...I have no regrets about it despite what's happening now," Emrith added.
Warner, who was once Persad-Bissessar's main platform ally, right hand seatmate in Parliament and first choice as acting PM–now bitter political enemy–may inevitably find himself on the hating end of those weary and wary of his no holds-barred modus operandi.
On a political kamikaze mission of sorts, Warner has a certain amount of time on his side and nothing to lose considering his US/Fifa predicament.
The PP, which requires space from Warner's "war" to present themselves to the public and engage the Opposition PNM, may seek to detach from his assaults. But Warner, seeking to deflect this, has declared intent of strategically timed announcements geared to grab PP's spotlight.
His claims to date are subject to as searing a scrutiny as that which he seeks to place on the PM/PP and it remains to unfold how much damage he will inflict on the PM's image, and whether his continual nipping at the PP's heels may strike a painful enough "tendon," and elicit a reflex kick to the curb.
Perception of a Warner/PNM tag team would have been heightened by the PNM's lack of full-on criticism of Warner for moves such as taping people.
The PNM, which usually holds press conferences to expound on matters, however handled the Warner/tapes issue in more of a hands-off manner: via press release.
While raising the salient point–seeking a police probe of the situation–that medium would have avoided answering any ticklish questions about association with Warner, as well as put some distance between itself and a man wanted by the US Justice Department and red-flagged by Interpol.
The vote-seeking PNM would have had to tread the median between wanting to keep a safe distance from Warner as well as exploiting the opportunity to pillory the PP, which he's facilitated.
It remains to be seen how much more of a facilitator"–a role he's played all his life from Fifa to politics–Warner's actions may prove indirectly for the PNM's political thrust.
Attorney General Garvin Nicholas has also said no extradition request has been received from the US yet.
He confirmed Government has so far only been asked to facilitate the provisional arrest warrant for Warner and T&T isn't locked into any obligation with the US to deliver Warner to the US and that there is a procedure that needs to followed.
Asked if a PNM government would co-operate with US authorities in facilitating Warner's extradition, PNM PRO Faris Al-Rawi said he preferred not to speculate.
The US has four more weeks–until July 27–to file its extradition request, this column confirmed.