Recent hasty moves by National Transformation Alliance (NTA) leader Gary Griffith and his Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) counterpart Phillip Alexander to align themselves with the United National Congress (UNC) of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar have raised more than a few eyebrows nationally, with political analyst Indira Rampersad aptly describing the actions as 'crab in a barrel' behaviour.
And while we are not about to tell Mrs Persad-Bissessar what she should and should not do, we stand on the side of those who are very sceptical about the political intentions of these two men and about whether they have anything of real benefit to offer the UNC.
The Opposition Leader would therefore do well to tread carefully on any alliance with either the NTA or PEP at this time.
Undoubtedly Mrs Persad-Bissessar is aware of the need for such caution, which could explain her statement two weeks ago, which angered Mr Griffith, to the effect that she would not allow minor parties to dictate terms to the UNC ahead of the upcoming general elections campaign, while calling on them to demonstrate what they could bring to the table.
The NTA leader, who recently expressed confidence in his party's ability to rally the support of 200,000 voters, swiftly fired back at Mrs Persad-Bissessar but promptly calmed down when he discovered that certain high-ranking members of the UNC were inclined to support him over Mr Alexander in any political accommodation.
At the same time, Mr Alexander, who spent the majority of the last five years criticising the UNC as being no different from the incumbent People’s National Movement (PNM), appeared to have gone into panic mode and did precisely what Mrs Persad-Bissessar had told the smaller parties not to do, by giving the UNC an ultimatum to choose between him and Mr Griffith.
Since then, the PEP leader has seemingly had a change of heart and is now saying that he is willing to work with Gary–the same man he wanted absolutely to do with less than a week prior and was dead-set against having as an alliance partner.
We can only hope that Mrs Persad-Bissessar and the UNC will see these political machinations for exactly what they are.
The Opposition Leader also needs to ask and answer for herself what exactly are the proven track records of Gary and Phillip, and how can they help the UNC politically at this time.
Also, can the UNC trust either of these men, or will their loyalties whittle away, based on the prevailing political breeze blowing on any given day?
Furthermore, what is the ultimate wish of Gary and Phillip? Is it to ultimately lead the UNC, or are they prepared to accept a lower status within the context of a political merger?
At the end of the day when all of these questions are asked and answered, Mrs Persad-Bissessar may well decide that the UNC under her leadership stands a better chance of defeating the PNM by going it alone.
Time will tell.