Political analysts Dr Windford James and Dr Indira Rampersad are not surprised by the landslide victory of the Star team in the UNC’s internal elections on Saturday.
James said the results did not come as a shock to him, as he did not believe the United Patriots were organised in a way that would command the support of the UNC base.
“The United Patriots probably thought that the grievances within the party would have helped turn the electorate away from the Star team. They were living in a fool’s paradise,” he said
He added that all the anger and self-righteousness the United Patriots presented to the public in their quest to overthrow the team that supported political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had been defeated.
James questioned Paray’s comments yesterday that his team is willing to work with the newly elected national executive.
He asked: “Is he helping voluntarily? Is he waiting to be called? Is he going to Kamla and make peace with her?
“The mechanics of that we do not know just yet. These are difficult results for the United Patriots because the team thought they had it in the bag.”
Rampersad said she had predicted this outcome as the Persad-Bissessar slate has always been difficult to unseat. She said it would be interesting to see how Paray wanted to work with Persad-Bissessar who had said it was the worst campaign and that it would have left some scars, after a gruelling internal battle.
She also wondered how the United Patriots team is expected to work with an executive that they ran against and a leader who endorsed that executive.
“I think it is easier said than done to think that you can put everything behind you and work together. That may be in the best interest of the party, but a lot of things were said on the platform and the question is whether those words can be forgotten as they move forward,” Rampersad said.
“You cannot say you want to work with the party and then on the other hand you are undermining the party. That has to be seen in actions and not words, so the commitment must come from the heart and soul and if they are prepared to do that to win the next general elections, then it is certainly possible.”