THE EDITOR: Who are the citizens not charmed, beyond political belief, by either the incumbent PNM or the opposition UNC? Both the PNM and the UNC can boast of thousands of base voters, which usually render the small third political parties as mere window dressing.

There are a few contenders but until general election 2025 we will remain unsure of popularity/significance at this point in time.

So, let us look at the bigger picture. In a country of some 1.4 million people of many races, will the race card come into any significance since the Afro-based PNM and the Indo-based UNC now have quite a few crossover supporters?

So, what of the other races in TT? So many Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, French Creole, Syrian Lebanese and others who are also affiliated to the PNM/UNC but who may also sit back and gaze on the political rivalry and just not bother to vote at all?

I am talking here about the elite. The wealthy citizens who care nothing about who is leading the country unless the government intrudes on their daily comfort zones. They can afford to either leave or stay in TT, depending on mood. There are many wealthy citizens of all races who can politically fence-sit and vote on a whim.

There is no race but the human race. All blood is red in colour. Not blue, yellow, green or black. Without exception, we all laugh, we cry and then we die. But for whom we may vote depends on the popularity, the acumen, the sophistication of what each political party may have on offer.

Today in TT there is rampant crime. What are not vote catchers are the ideas that any particular race is more violent, more corrupt, more intelligent than any other; that racial superiority exists; that crime exists only in certain environs with the rest of TT inhabited by angels who should all be living in Heaven.

Rampant crime, like severe climate change, is a global reality. We have reached the stage in TT where, politically, pot definitely cannot call the kettle black.

The colonials do not control us. They are dead and long gone since 1956.

General election 2025 will be decided on which political party can field an attractive slate of aspirants who will be able to secure the popular vote.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin

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