Mayaro MP Rushton Paray says he will no longer talk about the United National Congress’ National Executive elections in the media and will simply await a date for the polls.
He announced this position yesterday after blistering attacks from UNC frontliners, party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and deputy leader Roodal Moonilal on his recent public call for “Natex” elections.
“After carefully considering the various statements made by my fellow Parliamentary colleagues, I am opting not to engage in the internal party elections through the media,” Paray said in a statement titled “Remarks from my Parliamentary peers”.
Paray’s been spotlighted since last Friday, when he held a media conference calling on Persad-Bissessar to announce the date for Natex elections, which is due in June.
Paray’s call was supported by Naparima MP Rodney Charles, Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Rai Ragbir (who also called for leadership polls) and Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes-Alleyne. The only MP silent was Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally, who’s had issues with the leadership and deputy leadership on Sanathan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) matters.
But all other UNC MPs and Senators slammed the four MPs’ actions. The Mayaro constituency executive and UNC-controlled Mayaro corporation also distanced themselves from Paray. Other corporation chairmen frowned on Paray’s move and parliamentarians and units came out in support of Persad-Bissessar’s leadership.
The Sangre Grande corporation chairman and councillors meanwhile knocked Ragbir’s actions.
Climaxing the UNC’s closing of ranks, Persad-Bissessar, in an exclusive interview with Guardian Media, warned dissident MPs that the day they break the party line, according to UNC’s constitution, they’ll be expelled from the party.
She said Natex elections will be held when constitutionally due but didn’t commit to a date, saying that would be for UNC’s executive to declare.
Paray, in an initial response to Guardian Media yesterday morning on Persad-Bissessar’s “expulsion” threat, said he wasn’t sure where “all that is coming from”. He said he thought the party line was the constitution of the party and he’d always supported the party line in and out of Parliament. He said he’d continue to hold the position that the party’s wider membership wants to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming internal elections.
Paray said a date must be called early to allow the widest participation in the democratic process and he was a lifetime UNC member, committed to the party. He said as Mayaro MP, he’ll continue “pursuing his duties in the constituency and in Parliament, advocating on behalf of all the people.”
However, Moonilal also held a media briefing yesterday, where he slammed the “kuchoor” created by Paray in airing the internal election publicly. Moonilal said he had information that one or two MPs have been meeting with People’s National Movement businessmen/operatives and that Paray had been in touch with “PNM operatives”. Moonilal appealed to colleagues not to be used by the PNM to destabilise the UNC, since he’d seen PNM’s “fingerprints” on this matter and he intended to return to talk about it on another platform ahead.
Paray subsequently told Guardian Media he hadn’t met or been in touch with any PNM operatives, didn’t know what a “PNM operative” is and wasn’t a PNM financier. He added that he has every intention to file his nomination to seek Mayaro.
But at 4 pm, Paray issued another statement, announcing, “After carefully considering the various statements made by my fellow Parliamentary colleagues, I am opting not to engage in the internal party elections through the media.
“I maintain an open line of communication with all my colleagues. My contact information, including my mobile number and email address, remains unchanged, and I welcome direct dialogue at any time.
“I appreciate the attention given to this significant matter by both the party membership and the nation as a whole. I have advocated for the internal elections to proceed in accordance with our constitution, and I eagerly await the announcement of the election date. I reaffirm my steadfast loyalty and dedication to the United National Congress.”
He didn’t answer calls after issuing the statement.
Anita: We await
Natex election date
Haynes-Alleyne, replying to queries on Persad-Bissessar’s warning earlier yesterday, said the most important thing coming out of the discourse “since my colleague MP Paray made his call”, was that the elections will be held when they are due. She said she looked forward to the date being announced in due course, when she will be sure to exercise her right as a lifetime UNC member.
Haynes-Alleyne said she’d continue her “work inside and outside of Parliament, and advocating for positive changes that will strengthen the UNC and T&T”.
On Paray’s subsequent move not to discuss the Natex issue in the media again, Haynes-Allyene said, “I reiterate that the most important thing coming out since Friday is that the elections will be called when they’re due.
“Once we’re all in agreement that the elections will be called when due, everything else becomes irrelevant. I look forward to the date being announced to ensure all our members have their equal say in our democratic process, and we move on to the road to victory in General Election 2025.”
Charles, saying he had heard the comments of his party colleagues in the media and elsewhere on the call for Natex elections, said, “I’m very pleased to hear that internal elections will be held when they are due as stipulated by the party’s constitution.
“Along with many party activists and supporters, I anxiously await the announcement of the date of the Natex elections. The membership will then get a chance to give its stamp of approval on who in the party’s membership will best represent the party at the level of Natex. All I want to hear is the Natex election date. Nothing else matters.”
Ragbir didn’t comment.
Chair: Issue shouldn’t have happened
UNC chairman Dave Tancoo said last night the party’s executive will meet and discuss the matter when it is due.
“The attempt to create an illusion otherwise by those who chose to ignore the facts was mischievous and misguided at the very least. It was my expressed wish that good sense prevails and ego is put aside so that the party can focus on continuing to build towards governance,” Tancoo said.
“This unnecessary subterfuge served only to allow the PNM to distract from the massive national security scandals, property tax fiasco, water crisis, the Tobago oil spill fiasco and so many others while undermining the party’s integrity. It should never have happened in the first place.” |
He added, “As a founding member of the UNC, I and many like me remain convinced that the UNC is the best vehicle to remove the PNM and return good governance to the country. As we prepare to engage in two by-elections for the Lengua/Indian Walk and Quinam-Morne Diablo seats, I expect all genuine UNC supporters who have the party and country’s best interest at heart to put all hands on deck.”