Column: Nomination day marks start of home stretch in epic UNC election fight

In the 37 years that I have worked as a journalist, I have covered political parties, general elections and political scandals on my beat.

But never have I reported on a local event, a party election, that has generated as much interest as the internal election of the United National Congress (UNC) that takes place on January 24.

I expected that the media would pay attention but it has gone way beyond that, even pushing aside Carnival into the inside pages as a news event, along with the national scandals and government activities. There are good reasons for it.

And that's why this blog has shifted its focus to almost exclusively cover the UNC election, trying to deal with all the players as best as we could so that we provide a marketplace of issues and ideas, which we hope will help people decide on what's the best thing to do on January 24.

One reason for the extensive news coverage is because of the players and the manner in which the UNC chooses its leadership.

Unlike most other political parties that have a leadership race and a nominating convention at which they select a leader, the UNC has an open election at which every eligible financial member has a vote.

This one-member-one-vote policy is similar to the general election in which a first-past-the post vote determines a winner. But the UNC goes further and elects its entire national 18-member executive in this manner.

In past elections there have been rival slates, each operating like a party within the party with campaign slogans, literature, rallies and motorcades aimed at attracting voters.

Another attraction is that for the first time there is actually a leadership race.

The incumbent, Basdeo Panday, is the founder of the party and has always led unchallenged. Most of his MPs have endorsed "the chief" again in this contest, although one of them admitted that it is only out of "respect for the old man."

The "old man" is 77 and still in a fighting mood, with his famous slogan, "If you see me and a lion fighting, feel sorry for the lion."

In this fight he is taking on a lioness in Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar who sat at his side for more than a dozen years, always loyal and dedicated to the leader and the party.

But she has done the "unthinkable" and decided to run for the leadership, saying she has put the nation ahead of personal loyalties. Persad-Bissessar is presenting herself as the only candidate who is capable of ending the divisiveness in the UNC, unifying the party and preparing it to win an election.

And if the groundswell of support in the national community were an indication of how she would fare in a general election, she is likely to win a landslide.

But it is not, although the intense media attention is fooling many people. On radio talk shows, people who are not members of the party are pledging support, saying they will vote for Kamla only to find out they can't.

The other challenger is Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who has a checkered political history and the unholy distinction of cutting a deal with the PNM in 2001 to help topple the Panday government.

He is saying all that is irrelevant and is marketing himself as the only one of the three who can actually fix the party problems, deal with the national concerns of the people and beat the PNM.

But despite his confidence, that's not what others are saying. What is peculiar about Maharaj's campaign is that he is only attacking the lady who wishes to lead, not the "chief".

In fact he is saying only "Bas and I" are fighters for the people and only they can "save" the party.

That is adding another dimension in the political drama. Maharaj was a member of the so-called dissident Ramjack group led by Jack Warner, a UNC deputy leader, MP for Chaguanas West and internationally known for his work as vice president of FIFA.

Warner, Maharaj and another MP, Winston "Gypsy" Peters (Mayaro) broke ranks with the party and established a Movement for Change to educate the membership of what was wrong within the party and offer solutions to rebuild and strengthen the UNC to win an election.

Their chief concern was that the party needed to hold elections for a new executive whose shelf-life had expired.

Warner disbanded the movement after the party announced elections and stood by his principle of putting nation first and endorsed Persad-Bissessar, not his Ramjack colleague.

While Maharaj is saying that is Warner's right, he is not amused that his friend and ally is supporting someone else.

Some of the 18 posts could be won unopposed on Monday after nominations close. That's because Warner, Maharaj and Persad-Bissessar are running independent campaigns with no team.

That means anyone who opposes members of the Panday team will be running an independent campaign.

The next episode of this drama is about to unfold. And judging from the coverage it has generated so far we could expect to see and hear a lot more before the ballots are marked on January 24.

Just over 34,000 people have a critical choice to make. And for now, no one knows for sure how it will end.

Jai Parasram | Jan. 11, 2010