Super Sunday: Parties present candidates to formally launch campaign 2010

The People's National Movement (PNM) and the People's Partnership of the United National Congress (UNC) and its its partners will formally launch their campaigns for the May 24 general election with big rallies Sunday.

The PNM will be in its straditional stomping ground at Woodford Square, Port of Spain, where its founder, Dr Eric Williams, "laid down his bucket" in 1956 and launched the party.

The UNC will be at Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas. Each political group will present its full slate of candidates.

There are no surprises on the opposition side since UNC leader Kamla Persad Bissessar named her party's team last Friday and the UNC's coalition partners have also announced who will be contesting the various seats.

On the PMN side, Keith Rowley has got the final approval as a candidate and the controversial former senior cabinet minister is listed to speak on the party's national platform Sunday.

He will deliver the candidate’s speech, which is a brief acknowledgement of under four minutes and will not deal any policy issue.

It is the first time he will speak on behalf of the party since the start of the campaign on April 12. Last week he attempted to launch is own campaign in Diego Martin but the party shut him down, saying he was not confirmed as a candidate and was not authorized to hold the meeting.

Rowley and PNM leader Patrick Manning have been political rivals for years, but Rolwey remained a part of the team in all elections and was in cabinet until 2008 when Manning fired him.

Rowley was Trade and Industry minister at the time and had raised queries involving UDeCOTT and Calder Hart, who was UDeCOTT executive chairman.

That opened up a Pandora's Box that led to a commission of inquiry into UDeCOTT and a running feud between Manning and Rowley with each trying to score points against the other.

Manning worked hard at painting Rowley with a corruption brush while Rowley described the Manning government as the most corrupt ever. Now both men are fighting an election together with corruption as one of the central issues in the campaign.