Ramesh begins campaign, but stays clear of attacking Panday

Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has launched his full campaign for the leadership of the United National Congress (UNC) with an unusual move.

Instead of attacking his opponent, the incumbent UNC leader Basdeo Panday, he trained his guns on Kamla Persad-Bissessar who is not even running for the leadership.

There is a strong lobby for the Siparia MP to run for the leadership and a growing perception that she could win the contest in a free and fair election.

There is speculation that she will make the move this week, so Maharaj is taking no chances of giving her an advantage.

In a campaign speech Sunday Maharaj spoke of his track record in winning elections and asked his parliamentary colleague to show hers.

Speaking with his constituents who had gathered to protest the poor road conditions in their area, Maharaj said he decided to contest the UNC leadership because he is concerned about the future of citizens.

"I believe people must come first, before flag poles; people must get drinking water before summits; people should be able to get proper health care, drainage and roads before big buildings,” he said in reference to the record of the governing People's National Movement (PNM).

And he demanded that Persad-Bissessar show her track record to prove that she can beat Patrick Manning and the PNM.

“Every candidate has to tell the people and show the people that they could fight and beat Manning. I want Kamla to...tell the country what she did as Opposition Leader to show she could fight Manning and put the party in a position to win elections,” Maharaj said.

Maharaj told his supporters that Persad-Bissessar was incapable of winning so Panday had to call him to help the party for the 2007 general election in which he successfully contested the Tabaquite seat.

The party formed an alliance with other political groups and ran as the UNC Alliance but was unable to defeat the PNM, returning to Parliament with only 15 of the 41 seats, with the PNM winning the other 26.

"If Kamla could not as Opposition Leader win elections in 2007, she must tell the country what she could do to win elections now,” Maharaj said, without offering any formula that he would use to win.

He said whenever he was absent from the UNC it suffered a decline. Maharaj noted that he was part of the team that helped put the UNC in government in 1995 and 2000.

“The United National Congress got into government in 1995, that was the first time it got into government, it got into government in 2000 and it never got into government after 2000.

"They never got into government after the leader put me out the party," he said.

“Mr Panday had to ring me to tell me that I have to come to help the party in order to save it from the Congress of the People...Whenever there were problems, I was the fighter. I don’t need the politics, you know, but I love it,” he said.

Persad-Bissessar served as opposition leader in Parliament following the expulsion of Panday and the forfeiture of his seat because of his conviction for failing to declare a London bank account to the Integrity Commission.

Panday remained leader of the UNC during that period. The 2007 election campaign was jointly run by Panday and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner. Persad-Bissessar defended her Siparia seat and won a landslide.

She got 10,320 of the 18,165 votes cast - 58 per cent of the popular vote - with the rest going to COP and the PNM.

Maharaj ran against prominent San Fernando attorney Anand Ramlogan, who was the Congress of the People candidate in Tabaquite. It was a nail-biting finish to a three-way race in which Maharaj won the highest vote but not a majority.

Of the 18,343 votes cast, Maharaj got 7,213 - which was 31.9 per cent of the popular vote - with COP and the PNM getting the majority of 11,130.