UNC nominations for CWC election closes Friday

The United National Congress (UNC) is still accepting nominations from members who want to contest the Chaguanas West byelection on July 29th. The deadline is four on Friday afternoon. Nomination day for the election is July 8.

Two strong contenders for the nomination are the former MP, Jack Warner, and a prominent pandit from Charlieville, Satyanand Mahabir. However, any member of the party is entitled to seek the nomination and no decision would be made until the screening process has been completed.

The party has said screening begins on Monday. Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has made it clear that the party would follow its rules and constitution to determine who will represent the party in the election. "We are a disciplined party," Persad-Bissessar told supporters at a meeting in Felicity on Monday.

The People's National Movement (PNM) has already named its candidate. He is Avinash Singh, a 24-year old agriculturalist and businessman. Singh has boasted that he would beat whoever opposes him. However the chairman of the PNM, Franklin Khan, conceded in a radio interview that the PNM will not win the election. 

Chaguanas West is a strong UNC seat. In the 2010 general election Warner received more than 18,000 votes and his PNM opponent won just over 1300 votes. The UNC has appealed to its members to support their party to make sure that it remains in government.