In a surprise move yesterday, vice-president of the Senate Lyndira Oudit resigned from her post and also quit as a member of the United National Congress (UNC). In an interview with I95.5 yesterday morning, Oudit confirmed her resignation. She said she handed in her resignation letter at the UNC’s headquarters at Rienzi Complex, Couva, at approximately 3.45 pm on Monday. Almost concurrently, she said, she submitted another resignation letter at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
Her resignation comes amid reports that Prime Minister Kamala Persad-Bissessar was considering a third cabinet reshuffle. It was also the third resignation from the party in recent weeks, following those of Jack Warner, who has since formed his own party, and St Joseph MP Herbert Volney just last week. However, several of her colleagues said yesterday that the party remained strong, with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar saying the party would move on from the resignation as it had with others.
Asked about the perception that she might join Warner’s Independent Liberal Party, Oudit said: “You’re right, one can perceive.” She explained that she discussed leaving the UNC and the Senate with her family. “I am leaving a lot of options open. T&T is going through a political dynamite right now, and there are options open, and as soon as I know for sure, and I am confirmed in my mind, you will be the first to know,” she said.
Oudit expressed some disappointment in the Persad-Bissessar-led Government. She said when the party obtained power in 2010, she took a position that she wanted to be a part of something for the change and betterment of the country. She said, however, that over the last three years, “whatever vision and hope and expectation I shared, somewhere along the line there has been a divergence in the way in which the philosophy is unfolding and at this point, I choose to take a different direction.”
Oudit admitted that she had been thinking of leaving for some time, as she believed there were things that “ought not to have taken place and ought not to have happened.” She also said the Persad-Bissessar leadership did not maximise the “best use of the best minds” that came together in 2010, and the mood within the party of late was one of despair.
Gender and women’s issues remained on the administration’s back-burner, she said, although having the first female prime minister could have made an impact in terms of gender balancing, budgeting and a gender-sensitive-type parliamentary arrangement. Asked if she was disappointed in Persad-Bissessar’s handling of allegations of corruption, Oudit said: “Yes, I am a little disappointed.
“I feel there are a number of cases that were brought to her attention and much more introspection and reflection and examination through the proper channel should have been done. “I believe there is a sluggishness in the way in which matters of that nature are dealt with, and that is the bane of most leaders if you don’t act in a certain way...she has a responsibility to pursue those that have merit.”
She cited the Government’s handling of welfare and dependency, as well as agriculture, saying these things could have been handled better. Oudit also expressed disappointment at the party’s decision not to select Warner as the candidate for the Chaguanas West by-election, although he had the support of all 31 party groups in the constituency.
Local Government Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, contacted for comment yesterday, said in politics people changed their minds. Asked if Oudit’s resignation would affect the UNC, Rambachan said the party continues and the Government continues. “As there are people leaving the party, there are also people joining the party,” he said.