Business as usual. Prakash staying as COP leader

File: Prakash Ramadhar: "Resignation is not an option for me...that is an easy way out."

Prakash Ramadhar said Wednesday it's business as usual: he's not quitting as leader of the Congress of the People (COP), and the party is sticking with the People's Partnership.

COP suffered a stunning defeat at the polls Monday, losing all the five corporations it contested for the Partnership in Monday's Local Government Election. Ramadhar was reacting to a move by members of his party, including his brother, calling for him to step down as leader because of the defeat.

The COP members include:

1. Kishore Ramadhar, secretary for education and research
2. Rudolph Hanamji, chairman of COP’s Diego Martin West constituency
3. Rufus Foster, chairman of the Arouca/Maloney constituency
4. Kirt Sinnette, field secretary field operations
5. Satu Ramcharan

They held a media conference at COP's Port of Spain headquarters and told reporters the party's leadership must take responsibility for the defeat and that Ramadhar must resign as leader.

Hanamji called for a referendum within the party to determine if the COP should leave the People’s Partnership Government. Sinnette said he and the other members of the leadership would leave COP is Prakash Ramadhar doies not resign.

Ramadhar's brother, Kishore, declared that the People’s Partnership has damaged COP and claimed that COP members who are in cabinet want to stay there for selfish reasons. He said they have abandoned COP's principles.
Foster accused ramadhar of being "an agent of the UNC" and said Ramadhar is destroying the party.

But the COP leader dismissed it all saying he will begin rebuilding the party from within the partnership. He spoke with reporters in Curepe within hours of the news conference by the dissident group.

Ramadhar said he is not suprised to learn about the COP members who are attacking him, noting that they never wanted to be a part of the PP coalition. "I’ve never really seen any of them work towards building this country," he said.

He added, "They have been internally attempting to destroy the COP for whatever reason, you might appreciate one of them is the son of a candidate who went up for leadership, the other is my brother, the other is a former candidate for the PNM and the other is of course hapless."

He dismissed the charges against him as baseless. "If I am power hungry, then why are we in the partnership, I could have done like others and march and make noises to get attention," he said.

The COP leader said he continues to guide the party to fulfill the promise that it made to the people in 2010. "It is wrong for anybody to take a vote and then betray the vote from running out of their responsibility as others have done and be able to effect no change whatsoever," 

His final words: "Resignation is not an option for me...that is an easy way out."