ILP supports UNC in Chaguanas but no mayor elected

Independent Liberal Party (ILP) councillor for Charlieville, Faaiq Mohammed, at Wednesday’s sitting of the council of the Chaguanas Borough Corporation. Seated behind him are ILP interim leader Jack Warner, left, and interim chairman Robin Montano (Express caption and photo)

Independent Liberal Party (ILP) councillor Faaiq Mohammed on Wednesday voted in favour of a United National Congress (UNC) presiding officer for the election of a mayor and deputy mayor. But the task of electing a mayor was left incomplete at the end of the day, leaving Orlando Nagassar as a caretaker mayor for now.

The presiding office is charged with the responsibility of running the election for the mayor and deputy mayor.

Presiding officer - UNC councillor Vandana Mohit

There is no agreement among the parties about who should get the jobs. There is a deadlock on the issue because each of the three parties represented in the borough has four members on the council.

The PNM and the UNC each has three councillors and one alderman. The ILP got the highest number of votes in Chaguanas but only got two councillors. The Proportional Representation model gave the ILP two aldermen, creating a tied 4-4-4 position in the council.

Although the presiding officer has been selected, the election did not go ahead because the representatives could not agree on a procedure for voting.

The ILP has accused the UNC of bribing Mohammed. However Local Government Minister Marlene Coudray denied that.

"I cannot comment on such nonsense, because there are people in this country who I believe have a conscience and who want to see things happen properly, so I cannot comment who was bought out, they know about buying out, so I can’t comment on that,” she said in response to media questions about the matter.

The UNC wants former deputy mayor Gopaul Boodhan to get the top post. The PNM's choice is Ronald Heera and the ILP's in Indra Maraj-Jaggessar.

Read the detailed Express account of what transpired in Chaguanas:

'TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST'