Vasant Bharath says he is a team player and will support Prakash Ramadhar as the candidate for the opposition in St. Augustine for the May 24 general election.The UNC gave the seat, which Bharath won in 2007, to the Congress of the People (COP) as part of a seat sharing deal which will see the UNC contesting only 23 of the 41 seats.
St Augustine has always been one of the safest opposition seats in the country and was won by the PNM only once - in the 1971 no-vote campaign.
Bharath defeated COP leader Winston Dookeran in St Augustine in 2007.He offered himself for re-election but that became a non-issue when the UNC decided to let COP have the seat instead.
On Tuesday night Bharath urged all UNC, COP and other opposition supporters to unite and get Ramadhar elected.
"We know that the PNM will only succeed when the opposition parties are divided. And tonight I want to send a message to Patrick Manning and the Government that we are united,” Bharath said as he addressed supporters at a COP meeting.
“We have to show in St Augustine it is possible to bring former adversaries together to bring a change in the way of life. We all have differences but we have a common task at hand, building a better nation for all and I am ready and willing to help build a better society,” Bharath said.
Ramadhar said he was "humbled" to speak on a platform with patriots “like Vasant”. He turned around Manning's platform rhetoric of beating the opposition, choosing the more positive term, representation.
Ramadhar said a government under Kamla Persad-Bissesar would, “represent you in the west, represent you in the east, represent you in the north, represent you in the south and represent you in Tobago.”
COP leader Winston Dookeran - who is contesting the Tunapuna seat - said people must put things in place to bring in a new and united government to replace the collapsed Manning regime.
"We must have a principled approach to a united government. I want to prove that no seat is safe for the PNM which is why I have taken up the challenge to contest the Tunapuna seat,” Dookeran said.
“Mr Manning within this election began to raise the issue about the weak leader. When I heard it the first time, I said I will forgive him for he knows not what he said. When I heard him say it a second time I said I must feel sorry for him for he cannot distinguish between truth and deception
“But when I heard him say it a third time, I said we must expose the strength of Manning to establish who is a weak leader in TT. We must expose the strength of Manning that has put this society at risk, put the lives of people at risk, that is the strength of Manning.
"His strength has put democracy at risk. He hounded out a Chief Justice and recently deported an American citizen, that is the strength of Mr Manning!” Dookeran declared.
Dookeran said let the people decide on who is a strong leader and who is a weak leader.
“The election period is on and every time Manning makes that statement, you will see a new Dookeran on stage because enough is enough! I cannot let him hoodwink the people!” Dookeran said.
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