One sitting Member of Parliament on the bench of the Opposition United National Congress, Christine Newallo-Hosein, will challenge party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the top post. The Cumuto Manzanilla MP yesterday filed verification papers for the leadership post ahead of nomination day next Wednesday.
The decision now means there will be a three-way fight for the UNC leadership with Vasant Bharath also in the November 26 election race.
Newallo-Hosein will be going it alone however and will not be fielding a slate, unlike Bharath who has a full slate who will be filing nomination papers next week.
Asked what prompted her decision, Newallo-Hosein said, “I took a principled stand against the decision of the national executive to have the leadership election together with that of the national executive and I felt as though had I just stayed with the status quo, I would be part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution.”
She added: “I love Kamla Persad-Bissessar very much but my decision has nothing to do with whether I respect or admire her. I am not doing this out of spite. This is a principled stance. The membership is hurting, they are traumatised, it is important to understand how will the healing begin.”
She said her decision follows concerns about the decision by the national executive to defy the party’s constitution and have the leadership election with that of the national executive although it was not due.
“The reason why the framers of the constitution had the leadership election separate to the Natex is because they wanted to preserve the membership. If the leader is contesting with a slate it means he or she has taken a side.”
She assured her decision will not impact her relationship with Persad-Bissessar in Parliament because “we are a team.”
But she said, “I believe people are asking for change and we can only bring change if we are part of that change.”
