GARY GRIFFITH DIVES BACK INTO POLITICS

HIS three-year stint as Police Commissioner now behind him, the ambitious Gary Griffith is diving back into politics. 

Griffith would soon move to resurrect a political organisation similar to the short-lived Third Force Movement (TFM) of 2015. 

The plan is to build momentum as a third major political party and ultimately seek a pre-election alliance with United National Congress (UNC). 

Even as he had hoped for another term as police chief, Griffith held casual conversations over the past few weeks with certain leading UNC operatives. 

He is reportedly on good terms with UNC Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. 

The ex-COP is heralding his 80 percent popularity rating in a survey last March. 

As it finally dawned on Griffith that he would not return to lead the Police Service, he said: “My days of public service are not over.” 

Over upcoming weeks, he is expected to marshal several high-profile supporters into a loose organisation to publicly address national issues. 

TFM had included Timothy Hamel-Smith, former President of the Senate, Gerald Yetming, ex-Finance Minister, and others, some of whom later became associated with UNC. 

The group had briefly contemplated contesting selected seats in the 2015 polls. 

“The aim is a COP-type group,” said a source close to Griffith, referencing Congress of the People, which in 2007 and 2010 garnered considerable support from voters who were not previously aligned. 

One analyst in 2015 described TFM’s “natural constituency” as “educated, middle-class, contemplative citizens who are unhappy with the options offered by the majority parties.” 

Griffith served as a security advisor and then Minister of National Security in the Persad-Bissessar Government of 2010 to 2015. 

He was appointed Police Commissioner on August 18, 2018.