Basdeo Panday predicts that the Local Government Election will see candidates from two sides of the United National Congress (UNC) opposing one another in addition to the two other parties - the governing People's National Movement (PNM) and the Congress of the People (COP).When the UNC under the joint leadership of Panday and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner created the a union with other opposition groups for the 2007 general election each party retained its individual status. Now Panday as UNC leader is saying that the UNC alliance has been disbanded and the UNC remains a unitary party.
But Warner disagrees and said last week that Panday cannot dissolve the alliance. So far Warner's platform for change is working on restoring the alliance while the UNC is on a mission to negotiate a unity accord with parties opposed to the PNM. Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar is heading the UNC unity committee and has so far enlisted one alliance member, the Democratic National Assembly (DNA) led by Dr Kirk Meighoo.
Related: Opposition Unity talks begin
Warner has held his own alliance meeting as chairman of the UNC Alliance leadership council. Since then YESTT's Stephen Cadiz has pulled out, saying he prefers to operate the organization as a non-political group.
Related: Jack convenes meeting of UNC Alliance
Read the story: Cadiz takes a "sabbatical" from UNC Alliance
Against this background a battle is building over the screening and nomination of candidates for the local election, which is due before the end of the year.
The UNC has been conducting its selection exercise for some time. Now Panday says the so-called dissident group led by Warner is doing the same.
"The Ramjackers are already screening candidates for the elections without the consent of the party. But don't let them fool you. They have no authority to speak or act on your behalf," Panday said at a public meeting this week.
The former prime minister charged that Warner and his group are selecting candidates "in compliance with an agreement made with the PNM".
However he said candidates from the "Ramjack" camp would not be able to use the UNC because the Election and Boundaries Commission will only recognise the signature of the General Secretary of the UNC.
Panday predicted that all "Ramjack" candidates would not only lose their seats but also their deposits. He attacked Tabaquite MP Ramesh L. Maharaj, saying the former attorney general had sold out the UNC to the PNM before, a reference to Maharaj's TEAM UNITY that caused the collapse of the Panday government in 2000 and subsequently fought the UNC, leading to the 18-18 tie that propelled Patrick Manning and the PNM into government.
"He is an expert in done deals," said Panday.
Both Warner and Maharaj have confirmed that they plan to be involved in the election by ensuring that every candidate selected by the party meets the approval of “the people,”
“We’re meeting in two weeks to map out strategy for this,” Warner told reporters accompanying him on a constituency tour Tuesday.
Maharaj explained that “It is one party we are in the UNC Alliance and we are UNC...So wherever the UNC has candidates going up on their ticket and whoever the UNC chooses to do so will have to face the people and the people will determine if those persons are who they really want.”
Chaguanas mayor Suruj Rambachan told the Trinidad Guardian the "Ramjack" plan is a "to destabilise and try to destroy the UNC without realising they are destroying the hope of the very people they claim to be wanting to give hope to.”
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