Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj will miss an important Ramjack meeting in Spring Village Thursday night but he has denied rumours that it is because of a rift with Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner.Maharaj told the Trinidad Express that one of the prime aims of the Movement for Change was to force the United National Congress (UNC) to hold internal elections and this has now been achieved.
He explained that the group is not a political party and therefore has no leadership structure, with each member having equal status. No one is committed to support any particular person in the UNC's internal election, he explained.
The former attorney general told the paper he advised Warner earlier this week that he had arranged meetings for his campaign before Thursday's meeting was announced and that's why he is unable to be present in Spring Village.
Maharaj also missed a Ramjack meeting on Monday, which caused local media to speculate that something is wrong in the alliance with Warner. But Ramjack sources explained that Maharaj was not one of the speakers listed for Monday's meeting.
Warner has said he will not support any candidate in the race for the leader of the UNC, saying he believes that is a decision for the party's members. He said he trusts that the members would make the right decision and he pledged to work with whoever is elected leader.
Speculation about strained relations with Maharaj developed over Warner's earlier statements that he would support Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar if she decided to run. He had said that she is eminently qualified to be leader.
That was before Maharaj entered the race. Commenting on the matter after Maharaj's announcement over the weekend, Warner insisted that he stood by his statement about Persad-Bissessar but also said Maharaj is well qualified to lead the party.
Persad-Bissessar appeared on a UNC platform on Monday and spoke about leadership issues and challenged Prime Minister Patrick Manning to call an election, saying the UNC would soundly beat the People National Movement (PNM).
However, she did not said if she will run against Panday. So far Maharaj is the only person challenging Panday.
Maharaj has said since his announcement he has been getting very encouraging feedback from UNC members who are telling him that he is the best candidate for the job.
He has dismissed suggestions that members would punish him for helping bring down the Panday administration in 2001, saying it was Panday who invited him to return to the party for the 2007 election.
On Tuesday night he told supporters they have to be careful about the choices they make on voting day on January 24 next year. He said if they sincerely believe either Panday or Persad-Bissessar is the best person to lead the UNC they should vote for them.
"If you feel that Panday could still fight for you and still put you in government, vote for Mr Panday. I have no problem with that. And if you believe Kamla could fight Manning and protect you, then vote for Kamla," he said during a political meeting in Gasparillo.
The reference to the Siparia MP is irrelevant at the moment because so far she has not said that she is running or plans to run.
1 comment:
Already the attacks have started, it pains me to see adults behave in this manner, but I guess it's the nature of politics. But it would seem that this nature of politics would not abandon us anytime soon, as we were promised a "new politics" from the COP (the main reason for me supporting them) but it has become evident that the same culture exists even there.
Therefore, we the lesser mortals are stuck in the mud spinning the same old top. But I have always said that the power resides with us, what we decide to do with it would determine our destiny. We could continue to allow those aspiring to lead us to treat us with scant disdain or we could choose to exercise our power to our benefit.
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