Members of the United National Congress' (UNC) Couva North constituency executive have abandoned their MP–defeated UNC political leader Basdeo Panday.
They have now thrown their support behind his successor, Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar. "We found it very difficult to mobilise people for the internal elections to vote for Mr Panday. Although we transported voters to the polling stations, they went and voted for Kamla," said the chairman of Panday's constituency executive Orlando Nagessar. "Our conscience beat us to know we could not do anything to mobilise people for our Member of Parliament," he said. He said he and other Couva North constituency executive members tendered their resignations yesterday.
"We felt as a matter of principle to allow Mr Panday to get a new constituency executive. It was an unanimous decision to sign the letter (of resignation)," Nagessar said. "It is a fact. It was a very agonising decision but we felt as an executive that the situations that have arisen during the last few months compelled us to do it," he said. As the UNC launched its Meet The Constituents Tour yesterday afternoon in Couva North, members of Panday's constituency executive pledged their support to Persad-Bissessar at the Chandernagore Presbyterian School, Southern Main Road, Edinburgh Village. At the meeting last night, Persad-Bissessar asked the Couva North constituency not to resign. She told them to stay on as members of the executive.