Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath has refused to allow new UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to use his constituencey office hall to meet his constituents on February 22. Ramnath confirmed the situation yesterday. He said his Couva South administrator had been approached on use of the hall by new UNC party organiser Vinosh Maharaj. The latter is part of the new UNC executive headed by Persad-Bissessar. A series of meetings have been planned for Persad-Bissessar to go to all the UNC constituencies on every Monday, over coming weeks. She began on Monday last with Couva North, constituency of former leader Basdeo Panday. The latter blanked an invitation to the meeting in his seat.
Yesterday, Ramnath said that when the call for use of his constituency hall came, the Couva South constituency administrator referred party organiser Maharaj to Ramnath as MP. Ramnath said he learned the new executive had planned to hold a meet-the-people meeting at his Couva South office hall on February 22. But he said he has not given permission for this. "Nobody called me... But my position is that she and the new team can go and visit Laventille and the marginal constituencies if they want to meet people and bring in new members," Ramnath said. "I'm already being perceived as being pro-Basdeo Panday, so I'm not going to provide any venue for them to hold a meeting in the constituency to further any more hooligan behaviour."