(Trinidad Express) A defiant Jack Warner last night launched his counter-attack, announcing a new party as part of his plan to regain the Chaguanas West seat.
The party is called the Independent Liberal Party (ILP).
Warner spent a lot of time in his speech in Pierre Road, Felicity, dealing with what he saw as the betrayal of the (United National Congress) UNC cabal not only to himself but to the ordinary grassroot member of the UNC.
Warner said the symbol of the party was the sugarcane next to an oil rig, enshrined by two circles. “The sugarcane represents our coming together from Africa and India and conjuring up images of the struggle from slavery to indentureship from which we have been emancipated and remains a solid remainder that never again will we be enslaved physically, mentally or politically,” he said.
He said sugarcane and the oil rig represented the struggle and tears of the people of Chaguanas West. “The oil is the bloodline of our economy…and with sugarcane, the message is our history will not be forgotten,” Warner said.
Warner said the party’s colour, green, embodied ideas associated with fertility, life and growth. It was the colour of beginnings, he noted, by associating with the colour green, his supporters were demanding a society with “less crime, less corruption, less immorality and much much more integrity”. Green, he underlined, “symbolises a people who are well balanced, in harmony and are of a sound mind, and represents good judgment and morality”.
Warner said following the July 29 by-election, he plans to formally apply, on behalf of the ILP, to become a full-fledged partner in the People’s Partnership coalition Government.
Nevertheless, Warner slammed his former colleagues in the People’s Partnership coalition Government whom, he said, had changed since getting office.
“Before 2010, they used to walk the streets among you…in those days,they used to give you their phone numbers…and waved to you and your children…. Today, they move around in chauffeur-driven high-priced SUVs and cars— some bought and some leased (a reference to Housing Minister Dr Roodal Roodal)—their faces are no longer friendly, their humility is gone. Their children are no longer going to the same schools as yours, their telephone numbers have changed, and if by chance you get it, the only way you can communicate with them is by text.
