Former Congress of the People (COP) founding member Nalini Dial has formed her own political party and is putting up a candidate to contest the Chaguanas West by-election. Dial resigned from the COP because it did not bring the “new politics” it promised and that’s why she formed the National Coalition for Transformation (NCT), she said. Her candidate for Chaguanas West is 28-year old Kerise Hamid, a self-employed resident of the area. Asked if she believed she would make an impact in the UNC stronghold, Hamid told the T&T Guardian yesterday she was a newcomer to politics but has a lot of experience in being a neglected citizen of the Government. “And people can relate to that,” she said. “The first thing I would do (if she wins the seat) is not ignore a suffering person. “Yes, I will make an impact. I am making an impact. Felicity is not Jack’s (Warner) city.”
Hamid said she knew for a fact that Warner only helped selected people. Hamid was “launched” at a quiet cottage meeting in Charlieville recently, Dial said. Dial said she had an interim executive of seven people and 120 supporters, so far, without campaigning. She said they were all completely new to politics and are very young, in their twenties. “I don’t want no high-profile person and no rehashed politician in my party,” she said. “The way to change the politics is to get completely new people, with no allegations of corruption in their closets.” The colours of the NCT are the national colours, red, white and black and the symbol is two hands holding a hummingbird. The theme of the NCT’s campaign in Chaguanas West is “breaking the cycle of corruption”, Dial said. The party, from now until the 2015 general election, will break several other cycles on the campaign trail, she promised. From Monday evening, the NCT will start walkabouts in Chaguanas West and on Tuesdays will hold cottage meetings.