No retreat: UNC to discipline Warner and Maharaj

A United National Congress (UNC) retreat in Chaguanas Sunday was billed as an opportunity for the party to "heal" and end the bickering that has created divisions inside the party. Instead the divisions remain and now the party is planning to take Jack Warner and Ramesh Maharaj before a disciplinary committee.

UNC vice-chairman Vasant Bharath made the announcement after the retreat that was attended by the party’s national executive and parliamentary caucus. Warner was not there but Maharaj and Winston "Gypsy" Peters, who supports the "voices of change" campaign by Warner and Maharaj, attended.

“After a protracted discussion of the internal issues within the UNC and after hearing the views of participants at the retreat, the retreat recommended that the matters regarding Messrs Jack Warner and Ramesh Maharaj be referred to the national executive for urgent consideration, with a view to possible referral to the disciplinary committee of the party within the shortest possible time,” Bharath told reporters.

He expects the national executive to deal with it next week. Bharath, who chaired the discussions, said Maharaj didn't give members any assurance that he and Warner would scale back the activities that the party says are the cause of the divisions, including unauthorized public meetings.

“The retreat questioned Mr Maharaj extensively on the issue of these public meetings, where both the party and members were being brought into disrepute,” Bharath said

The matter of discipline was determined in a vote that only two members opposed - Mayaro MP Winston "Gypsy" Peters and national executive member Sylvester Ramquar.

Maharaj told the Trinidad Express that he is not surprised by the decision, adding that he is not afraid of the action.

"I am prepared to face any suspension and expulsion from them and the national executive of the party. I know the Executive and the retreat do not have the support of the membership. I challenge them to go to the membership and get their support," Maharaj told the paper.

He said UNC members including Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Tim Gopeesingh, Roodal Monilal and Bharath, who chaired the meeting, questioned him for about an hour. He left shortly after that to attend a family function. Maharaj said UNC leader Basdeo Panday did not ask him anything.

Maharaj presented a comprehensive document at the retreat containing a blueprint for the way forward, including internal elections by August this year (see story below). He told the party that without some fundamental changes the UNC would not be able to win an election.

The long-overdue local government election was also on the agenda. Bharath said the party’s national executive recommended that the UNC "pursue vigorously all avenues to secure victory, including an accommodation with other political parties".

It's the issue that has been creating the standoff between the two sides, with Maharaj and Warner telling the party it won't see victory in its present structure, a message that Maharaj made very clear at the retreat.

The Congress of the People (COP) has always insisted that it won't be any part of a united opposition with Panday leading the UNC and it reiterated that position earlier this month when it fired deputy leader Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol after Panday recruited her to replace opposition senator Dr Carson Charles.

Panday said his move represented "one more act in my struggle to unite the nation. The objective is to bring the opposition parties together."

Related story: Panday fires Carson Charles...

COP Leader Winston Dookeran said he made it clear to McNichols that she will be speaking in her personal capacity, not on behalf of COP or its members.