Chairman of the Tobago Council of the PNM Stanford Callender said the seven former Tobago politicians who have endorsed the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) in the upcoming General Election would hold no bearing on the outcome.
He was speaking at a news conference at the PNM Campaign Office at Pump Mill on Friday morning.
Calling themselves the Non-Aligned Tobago Politicians, the group comprised former Assemblymen Dr Jeff Davidson, George Stanley Beard, Max James, Carlyle Dick, Cecile Caruth, Regis Caruth, and former parliamentarian Pamela Nicholson.
Callender said while he had the utmost respect for the former politicians, their era has ended. He said they already made their contributions to the island.
“They have played their parts and I must say for most of them they did well and I want to say, it is the end of that era and as a people, we are into a new era and we need to encourage the young, brilliant minds of Trinidad and Tobago to continue to work and excel and take this country into the future.”
He said Tobagonians are a very discerning electorate and would make the right choice at the polls on August 10.
“I want to say to you, they are dealing with a different group of Tobagonians, more enlightened, more intelligent, where information is of greater access, so I want to say the same thing to my former ex-politicians, don’t believe Tobagonians will fall for that trick and those kinds of skulduggery, those days are over,” he said.
Meanwhile, PRO Kwesi Des Vignes is slamming the opposition parties for not following COVID guidelines during their campaigns. He said PNM candidates have been adhering to regulations by wearing masks and managing the numbers of their supporters.
However, he is urging all the other parties to do the same and campaign and canvass responsibly.
He said, the PDP has been transporting scores of supporters throughout Tobago daily, which could be a potential public health hazard.
“The opposition is busing in people from Charlotteville, Roxborough, wherever they could bus people from, so they will look as if they a lot of support. It is irresponsible and it should stop, because God forbid there’s any type of community spread, where there’s a bed for the spread of COVID-19 than in some of these parties where they have people jumping up, waving and sweating all the time, coughing and sneezing without a bandana, we need to be more responsible as leaders,” he said.