Kudos for Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Dear Editor:

After attending the launch of Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s team for UNC Leadership, I am once again excited and ready to believe again.

I have to admit that I was one of the many who allowed myself to be misled by the noise and misinformation of the general election campaign. I allowed the PNM to repeat a host of allegations until even I believed it, and felt no real willingness to know the real truth.

Since then, I have heard one person after another from the UNC speak about “the party” and “the people” but all of them only focusing on personalities and already known politicians.

The move by Mrs Persad-Bissessar to hit the reset button and do just as she did in 2010, that is to bring a completely fresh face to the UNC executive, is perhaps the best thing she could have done to truly restore the UNC and excite members and supporters.

Already we are hearing people from other camps talk about “greenhorns” and “inexperience” and people being “wet behind the ears”, but what they forget is that in 2010, Mrs Persad-Bissessar was bold enough to introduce an entirely new governing team for the UNC and in less than 6 months after that, was elected Prime Minister.

This time around, a new team of fresh faces will have time to establish their political and administrative reputations, do the work the party needs to stabilise and grow. By the time a general election comes around again, the UNC would have returned to being a diverse, national and broadly representative party.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar deserves a loud vote of commendation and confidence for having the courage to put aside the old, and introduce the new to political leadership, and she is the best person to coach, mentor and lead this new team to once again dwarf a PNM that is unbending, deaf and stuck in the 20th century.

Well done Mrs Persad-Bissessar, you’ve made the members of our party proud and confident again.

Angela Maharaj-Lashley