Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan says he is not the one who encouraged members of the United National Congress to contest this month's local government elections as independents. Acting Prime Minister Jack Warner said last week that he was awaiting written evidence to support the claim that at least one UNC MP had encouraged the rejected candidates to seek election as independents. Warner declined to name the MP who was alleged to have done that.
He said on Thursday that he was preparing to submit a report to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar when she returns home today.
Persad-Bissessar was in Jamaica last week for the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Montego Bay which was followed by a two-day state visit which included bilateral talks with Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding. Rambachan, who was part of this country's delegation at those meeting, returned home at the weekend.
Contacted for comment, he said any claim that he could have been the MP who supported the actions of the rejected candidates was totally untrue. "It's not true...I am in no way involved in any such development," he said. At least one of the Independents, Rajendra Gosine, has since resigned from the UNC. Meanwhile, Rambachan, who is the MP for Tabaquite, said the Caricom meeting was a "tremendous learning experience for him."
He said the visit to Jamaica was extremely beneficial. He said the Air Jamaica/Caribbean Airlines deal was a good one and both parties were now trying to see how they could maximise profits as a result of the agreement.