Leader of the Opposition Basdeo Panday is calling on citizens to mobilise to remove the People's National Movement (PNM) Government before the next general election is called in T&T. Panday, who is in the UK for medical tests, made the call in a telephone interview yesterday. The next general election is due in 2012. Asked to give his predictions for 2010, Panday said if the Government continued with its spending splurge it would impose more taxes on the population.
He said the citizens of T&T would become "more unhappy and even more restless. There is likely to be lots more public demonstrations across the country and the Government will respond with violence." Panday said things were expected to get worse and not better in T&T because the Government was unlikely to curb its expenditure. "Citizens should prepare to mobilise to move the Government even before the next elections are called in T&T," he added.
Asked to elaborate, Panday said he always had been advocating a campaign of civil disobedience and "I think the people should engage in that campaign in 2010." He said moves to remove the Patrick Manning Government should be non-violent. Commenting on the January 24 United National Congress' national executive elections, Panday said he was in the process of selecting his slate of candidates. Meanwhile, he confirmed that the reports from his medical tests have all been positive.
