Works and Infrastructure and Local Government Minister Surujrattan Rambachan yesterday expressed confidence that the Chaguanas West constituency will be retained by the UNC. Rambachan made the comment yesterday in response to former Chaguanas West MP and former National Security minister Jack Warner’s announcement on Monday night at a cottage meeting in Chaguanas, that he would be contesting the seat as an independent candidate.
Warner, who resigned as Chaguanas West MP in April, was rejected last week as the UNC candidate for the July 29 by-election. Tunapuna Regional Corporation chairman Khadijah Ameen was named on Friday as the UNC’s choice for the by-election. Rambachan, speaking in an interview after a breakfast meeting with the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce in Couva, said Warner’s announcement has given constituents food for thought and has made their choice simple.
“Now that they have a clear choice between staying in government and not staying in government I think they will choose to stay in government and that means voting for the UNC,” he said. He said constituents in the hotly-contested seat would have to choose. “You cannot serve two masters and the people of Chaguanas West now have to make a very important decision,” he said.
“Do they want to stay in government and be part of the exciting future of the Peoples’ Partnership Government not only now, but 2015?” Rambachan, who is also the Tabaquite MP, said he believes Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is dealing with the Warner situation comfortably. “I think that the Prime Minister has this matter under control. I think that the party is seeing the importance of staying united,” he said.
Rambachan said as a senior member of the UNC, he believes supporters of the party have learnt from their experience in 2001 when former UNC MPs Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, Ralph Maraj and Trevor Sudama broke away from the then Basdeo Panday-led government. Their actions led to the fall of the UNC government. He said, “That experience would tell them (Chaguanas West constituents) that they should do nothing or make any decision that would destroy the opportunity to stay in government.”
Rambachan questioned Warner’s professed loyality to the UNC. “I think that if you claim to be a loyal member to the party and you claim that your interest is in developing the country and so on, you have to be a team player and a team player means if another person is selected for the seat you put your support behind that person. That did not happen in this case,” he said.