One day after publicly calling for the UNC to hold internal elections which are constitutionally due in June and warning the party could lose next year’s general election if those elections are not held, Mayaro MP Rushton Paray has seemingly found himself to be a man who is politically alone in UNC.
Within this time, the majority of his elected immediate parliamentary colleagues distanced themselves from him and lined up behind Opposition Leader and party political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
While Paray has gotten support from some former UNC parliamentarians, they believe he is fighting a losing battle because the UNC lacks the democratic environment needed for his call to succeed.
At a news conference in Couva on March 22, Paray said, “Today we are all making this public demand because we have a grave concern that there is an attempt from the executive to devalue the UNC’s internal election by suggesting it is not necessary or not even needed.”
The party is constitutionally due to hold elections for all posts on its national executive (Natex) in June, with the exception of political leader.
The election for that post is due next year. Paray believes the talk of a general election was simply a ruse intended to suppress the voice of the UNC’s membership.
He said he was not afraid about becoming an outcast within the UNC for taking this stand.
At a news conference at the Opposition Leader’s office in Port of Spain, Persad-Bissessar dismissed Paray’s call. “We follow the party’s constitution and anyone who wants to jump the gun will wait their turn. Now is not the time for that.
The focus, we must stay laser-focused, on doing all that we can to try and rescue the people of this country.” Persad-Bissessar did not call Paray by name when she made her statements. “So good luck to all the wannabes. Sometimes they are, what it is, their ambitions, outweigh their talents. I wish them good luck.”
Before she won the post of political leader from party founder Basdeo Panday in the UNC’s internal elections on January 24, 2010, Persad-Bissessar demanded party elections be held when they were constitutionally due.
She also then expressed concerns about the UNC not being strong enough to defeat the PNM in a general election if its internal political dynamics were out of alignment.
The UNC has 19 MPs in the House of Representatives. Persad-Bissessar and Paray are two of them. Out of the remaining 17, more than half of them (11) support Persad-Bissessar and reject Paray’s position.
On March 22, UNC MPs Davendranath Tancoo, Khadijah Ameen, David Lee, and Rodney Charles lined up behind Persad-Bissessar. Charles indicated last year he will not stand for re-election in 2025.
On Saturday, they were joined by UNC MPs Dr. Roodal Moonilal, Barry Padarath, Saddam Hosein, Rudranath Indarsingh. Ravi Ratiram, and Dr. Rishard Seecharan.
Among those not making their positions known were UNC MPs Dinesh Rambally, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Vandana Mohit, Arnold Ram, and Michelle Benjamin.
Moonilal, who is one of thre
