"Mr Panday called me one day, before he left for England, and asked me what I was interested in and I told him, ’Mr Panday I will think about it and get back to you.’ I haven’t heard from Mr Panday since," Rambachan told the paper.
He said he and Panday agreed to discuss the matter when Panday returned to Trinidad from his vacation in England.
But on Monday he appeared on a platform for Panday's opponent, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and announced that he is supporting her for the leadership.
The former Chaguanas mayor he considered the situation carefully and decided to support Persad-Bissessar "after seeing the groundswell of support for her".
So far Persad-Bissessar has not indicated if she is running with a slate of candidates. Rambachan told the Express he is interested in running for the post of deputy leader and might run as an independent.
The party currently has three deputy leaders - Persad-Bissessar, Senator Wade Mark and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner.
Warner is running for the chairmanship in this month's election.
Rambachan said politics is about paying attention and doing what is right.
"A politician who doesn’t listen to the voice of the people and who does not assess the momentum on the ground is really not living a life of politics....There is a real tsunami of supporters moving in the direction of Kamla," he said.
Rambachan said people now realise that in order to win an election, "you must have the support of the wider community, and they are sending a message to the membership".
He said the message from the nation is that people are waiting on the UNC to make the right leadership decision.
Rambachan is confident that Panday will respect the decision of the membership if they elect Persad-Bissessar.
"He has said on a number of occasions he will leave only when the people tell him to leave, he is a man of his word and he will respect the democratic process," Rambachan told the paper.
No comments:
Post a Comment