PNM candidate Avinash Singh is confident he will win the Chaguanas West seat. He believes a split in votes between Jack Warner and his UNC rival will bring victory to the PNM. The UNC has not chosen a candidate and screening is expected to begin next week in preparation for the July 8 nomination deadline.
However, two candidates—Warner and Pundit Satyanand Mahabir—have filed nominations to contest the seat on a UNC ticket. Mahabir is a visiting pundit in the Shree Krish mandir, where Singh worships. In an interview yesterday, Singh, 24, of Abidha Road, Felicity, said he was not afraid to face his political opponents because the majority of people in Chaguanas West wanted an end to corruption, nepotism and bad governance.
“The real fight will be between Mr Warner and whoever the UNC chooses...This is why I will win, because there will be a split in votes,” Singh said. He claimed Warner was on a mission to “buy votes” and no longer held the respect of his constituents. “I think many people were fooled and tricked. Some of these people were loyal when he was vice-president of Fifa, president of Concacaf, party chairman, minister and MP but now that he no longer holds these portfolios, he is weak and has no power,” Singh said.
He added that the people of Chaguanas West were still suffering from bad roads, poor drainage, flooding and unemployment. “The main roads are paved but the side and back roads are neglected,” he said. “There is still no co-ordination between the public utilities and the central government, so that newly-paved roads are still being dug up by WASA.”
Saying Chaguanas West was the food basket of the country, Singh called on farmers and residents to vote for youth leadership. He also said a lot of the Government’s educational programmes were inaccessible. “We have to leave the Jack Warner pay-for-votes election campaign behind and say no to corruption and nepotism,” he said.
The young candidate, who graduated from the University of the West Indies with a double major bachelor of science degree in environment and natural resource management, said he was happy to offer his service to his people. “A vote for me would be a vote against the high level of corruption we are experiencing,” Singh said. EBC statistics show Warner got 18,767 votes in the 2010 general election while PNM candidate Ronald Heera received 1,471 votes.