Ramesh calls UNC letter "a national joke"

The national Executive of the United National Congress (UNC) has written MPs Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Jack Warner seeking a meeting with them to "consider the issue of your persistent breach of the party rules and directives that the internal affairs of the party not be discussed in public in such a manner to bring the party into disrepute".

The letter from General Secretary Fazal Karim said the meeting would also recommend "the future course of action in this matter".

It said the main item on the agenda would be "your continued flouting of and disregard for the constitution, rules and directives of the party, that the internal affairs of the party ought not to be discussed publicly and/or in public so as to bring the party into hatred, ridicule and contempt".

Maharaj is not taking the latter lightly and in an interview with the Trinidad Express he called it a national joke.

"It is a national joke that some executive members can decide that a disciplinary offence is committed when a member makes a public call for change within the party, in order to put it on the path of electoral victory," he said.

The Tabaquite MP and former Attorney General said the wording of the letter strongly suggested that the UNC Executive had "pre-determined that I committed a disciplinary offence and it is acting as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. Obviously it has contaminated, by apparent bias, any disciplinary process".

He said the party's constitution has sanctions for all acts of discrimination, nepotism and favouritism and wondered why the executive "wants to go against Mr Warner and myself" and not other party members who have also made public disclosures about the party's internal matters, including political leader, Basdeo Panday.

He suggested that if he and Warner are guilty of a breach of the UNC constitution by speaking in public about internal matters, then Panday is also guilty of the same offence.

Maharaj told the Express that it is unfortunate that while Prime Minister Patrick Manning is taking the country down the path of despair and destruction, the UNC Executive is contemplating the suspension of two of its own MPs and weaken the party.

He said he and Warner would visit every constituency to inform the membership about this latest move by the Executive.