http://www.trinidadexpress.com/previewopinion.asp?mygroup=opinion&mydate=2003-01-09

NATIONAL Team Unity leader Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has already served notice of his intention to become the voice of the unofficial opposition given what he said is the clear weakness in and out of Parliament of the United National Congress.

Mr Maharaj began his campaign during the absence from the country of Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, with a series of meetings across the country on various issues critical to the UNC constituency.

It was in this role and perhaps to steal some of Mr Panday's thunder on his return from London, that Mr Maharaj held his press conference on Monday where he alleged a plan by the Manning administration to implement a State of Emergency in April to deal with the crime situation.

Mr Maharaj, who claimed to have received his information from reliable sources, also went on to state that the Prime Minister would seek to ensure the election of a puppet president to achieve his ends, and with even greater hyperbole predicted that "Prime Minister Manning intends to use these states of emergency to attempt to silence politicians, trade unions-and during that period of time-intends to sell State assets to private enterprises."

Using what must be a political crystal ball the NTU leader also predicted street protests across the country and said the Prime Minister would therefore want to control trades unions from marching and taking action against the government.

These are fanciful charges even by Mr Maharaj's own standards, made even more remarkable by the failure of the former Attorney General to present any evidence whatsoever to back them up. As his erstwhile UNC colleagues have pointed out, Mr Maharaj went to great lengths to ensure Mr Manning assume office, it is difficult to believe he would have done so, with so little faith in the Prime Minister's democratic credentials.

It is difficult to assess what exactly Mr Maharaj hoped to accomplish by his supposed expose which unfairly casts aspersions on the integrity of the next president even before a candidate has been announced.

The crime situation is much too serious for anyone to use it to score cheap political points in the way which Mr Maharaj sought to do on Monday. As a former attorney general who has used some unorthodox methods himself (including withdrawing from international conventions to enforce the death penalty), Mr Maharaj is only too aware of the gravity of the threat being faced by the country.

What is needed is not the type of grandstanding in which Mr Maharaj sought to indulge on Monday but a concerted bi-partisan effort to ensure the laws are enforced and that the police service is adequately equipped to handle the problem.

Mr Manning has responded by dismissing the predictions of the NTU leader as baseless and it is now up to the aspiring Opposition Leader to prove there is some merit to what are serious allegations.

Given his stated intention of providing strong opposition over the next five years Mr Maharaj must realise this will take much more than wild rhetoric to accomplish.