Jack Warner will be contesting the Chaguanas West by-election under the banner of his own political party—the Independent Liberal Party. The former UNC chairman officially severed ties with the United National Congress (UNC) he helped build when he launched his own party at a meeting in Felicity, Chaguanas, last night.
He then called on constituents to show UNC candidate Khadijah Ameen that they would not fall for the lies put forward by the UNC and would vote for a candidate who would truly represent the people. Saying he had toiled hard to ensure the needs of Chaguanas West were met, Warner said the UNC hierarchy was only now paying attention to their needs so as to get their votes for Ameen over an MP who had proven himself. “Before I became your representative they believed that they could have taken you for granted,” he said.
“The UNC believed then that they could put any crapaud in Chaguanas West to represent you and they would still win the seat. Apparently nothing has changed even today if you follow the present attitude of the UNC.” He said, however, that he would not be baited into attacking Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, although he accused her of telling lies against him during the UNC’s Monday night meeting.
“I won’t be baited into bringing the Prime Minister into disrepute because I must never be accused of bringing down the UNC or the People’s Partnership Government,” Warner said. “Moreover, I have repeatedly said that I have no intention of conducting my campaign by going down to a low and base level. Who wants to go there can go, but not me.”
Warner said, however, that he had to set the record straight. He said neither he nor any of his family members were the subject of any inquiry by authorities in the United States and that he never refused to travel out of the country. “Monday’s lie is therefore a deliberate attempt to mislead you because it is convenient to paint a picture of a Jack Warner they would like you to see,” he said. He also said he had no intention of forming any alliance with the PNM and it’s leader Dr Keith Rowley.