Derek Achong

Se­nior Re­porter

derk.achong @guardian.co.tt

Three prospec­tive Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress (UNC) can­di­dates for Ari­ma joined to­geth­er to in­tro­duce them­selves to con­stituents yes­ter­day.  Nom­i­nees Dar­ron Daniel, Nigel Moses, and Crys­tal Ho­sein put their com­pet­i­tive na­ture aside to kick off the Op­po­si­tion par­ty’s cam­paign for next year’s gen­er­al elec­tion in the con­stituen­cy. 

Joined by dozens of their sup­port­ers dressed in par­ty T-shirts, the trio gath­ered at Herde Park in Ari­ma and then walked through com­mu­ni­ties off the Ari­ma By-Pass Road. 

In a brief in­ter­view, UNC ac­tivist Michael “Mikey K” Kerr ex­plained that the par­ty did not plan to wait un­til the screen­ing process was com­plet­ed to be­gin mo­bil­is­ing sup­port. 

“We are out and about to­day let­ting the con­stituents know who they are, giv­ing them an idea of the ser­vice they are ready to pro­vide to the peo­ple,” Kerr said.  “Care­ful think­ing goes in­to who is the best in­di­vid­ual. While that is tak­ing place the ma­chines of the par­ty are still mov­ing.”

Kerr ex­pressed op­ti­mism about the par­ty’s chances of se­cur­ing the seat, which is tra­di­tion­al­ly a Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) strong­hold. The last time the seat was not won by the PNM was in 2010 when it was claimed by the Con­gress of the Peo­ple (COP) on be­half of the UNC-led Peo­ple’s Part­ner­ship ad­min­is­tra­tion. 

Kerr said that the cur­rent po­lit­i­cal cli­mate ap­pears to be sim­i­lar to 14 years ago. 

“The tim­ing could nev­er be bet­ter. You see what is hap­pen­ing in this coun­try. The list of is­sues is so long that we could be here all day if I start,” he said. 

Kerr said sim­i­lar mo­bil­i­sa­tion cam­paigns will be con­duct­ed across the coun­try. 

“We want to make sure good gov­er­nance is re­stored and we will start in all the con­stituen­cies,” he said. 

Daniel seemed con­fi­dent in his chances of get­ting the nod from the par­ty af­ter the screen­ing process. While he ad­mit­ted that he had nev­er con­test­ed an elec­tion, he claimed his ex­pe­ri­ence as a life­long con­stituent and busi­ness­man would help him be an ef­fec­tive MP. 

“We are hear­ing the peo­ple’s cry over poor rep­re­sen­ta­tion. Noth­ing has hap­pened in Ari­ma. I see the need for change from the burgess­es,” he said. 

The par­ty start­ed its screen­ing process at its Ch­agua­nas head­quar­ters on Fri­day evening. Nom­i­nees from the Barataria/San Juan, Ch­agua­nas East, and San Fer­nan­do West con­stituen­cies faced the screen­ing com­mit­tee head­ed by Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar. 

The PNM is sched­uled to re­sume its screen­ing ex­er­cise at its Bal­isi­er House head­quar­ters in Port-of-Spain to­mor­row when prospec­tive can­di­dates for San Fer­nan­do East and Laven­tille West will be con­sid­ered. 

On Thurs­day, Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley an­nounced that long-serv­ing Laven­tille West MP Fitzger­ald Hinds will not con­test his seat af­ter serv­ing as an MP for three decades.  On Fri­day, Hinds con­firmed his ex­it as an MP.

 Pop­u­lar com­mu­ni­ty ac­tivist and at­tor­ney Ka­reem Mar­celle, of Beetham Gar­dens, had been strong­ly tipped to re­place him even be­fore his de­ci­sion was an­nounced.