The National Transformation Alliance congratulated Karen Nunez-Tesheira on her appointment as Deputy Political Leader of HOPE TT. As a political party fiercely committed to the principles of democracy, we endorse the right of every citizen to support the party of their choice.
The National Transformation Alliance however, said in a release from it’s General Secretary Tim Teemal that, as a party driven by facts and data, we are compelled to respond to comments attributed to Nunez-Tesheira, in a newspaper article, which can be seen as fact-free and misleading to the public.
Nunez-Tesheira recently commented on statements from NTA Political leader Gary Griffith, that the 2020 crime rate drop didn’t have anything to do with 2020 state of emergency restrictions. She said that she felt Griffith uses statistics in a questionable way, such as regarding the 2019 crime situation. Nunez-Tesheira also cited US concerns on extra judicial killings by police.
The release from Teemal said: “A pattern developing, Nunez-Tesheira followed up her initial newspaper comments with a radio interview echoing the same false and misleading remarks. As one who was virtually ostracised in the PNM, since 2010, the public might have expected Nunez-Tesheira to be a little more prudent in her initial comments as a leader of HOPE. Instead her loose and unfounded comments are more reminiscent of the style of the PEP, whose role it seems is to underhandedly support the PNM.
If this pattern continues, the public will soon see through her/their agenda, as a trojan horse or a hired gun, as the people are fed up of that brand of politics, and as a result the HOPE will soon be labelled HOPELESS, as they will be exposed as fighting against the inevitable defeat that the PNM is destined to face in the upcoming general elections.
Teemal also said: “As a former Minister of Finance, it is also amazing that Nunez-Tesheira is unable to get simple numbers correct, and her sharing false and misleading information does little to enhance the value of HOPE TT, especially as Griffith and the NTA have made a call for unity among smaller parties to combat the worst government in the country’s history”.
The recently concluded Local Government Elections is proof that this is the right strategy, and it demonstrated that unity is strength, as the UNC/NTA alliance garnered a remarkable 58% of the electorate. Post-election, it’s clear that a united opposition contesting a general election will lead to a PNM defeat, just as it happened in 1986 and 2010, and will occur again in 2025.