Quite disappointed. This was how Vasant Bharath, one of the three candidates vying for the post of political leader of the United National Congress, described his lost yesterday. But in the face of defeat, Bharath vowed to work with everyone, including its reelected political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, for the greater good of the party.
Persad-Bissessar secured a landslide victory on Saturday, although serious questions are being raised due to irregularities highlighted. In an interview yesterday, Bharath said his slate and the members of his team who worked hard on the campaign trail were also particularly disappointed. “Clearly, I feel obviously disappointed not just for myself but for the party.
A lot of work would have gone into the election campaign, because we brought a different and fresh approach to the organisation that was sorely needed if the organisation was to get out of the crisis which I still think it is in. “I feel very disappointed not just for myself but more so to my young team.
But obviously that is the democratic will of the people. “Clearly the membership weren’t convinced by our message of change and so therefore they would have fit in with the status quo,” Bharath said Wishing the new national executive well, the former food production minister said he remained undaunted by his defeat, adding that because he had been in politics for many years he understood that sometimes many of these things were out of one's control.
A surprising factor, he said, was the massive turnout on Saturday, especially given the party's recent defeat at the general election. He said ultimately, T&T deserved to have a strong Opposition given the fact that the country was facing many challenges, in particular the low oil and gas prices and other issues that would now flow from that.
Regarding plans to work with Persad- Bissessar to move the UNC forward, Bharath said this appeared uncertain as Persad- Bissessar had said she was not prepared to work with either himself, Dr Roodal Moonilal or Dr Tim Gopeesingh. “I myself had said openly and I am prepared to work with anyone and I think all leaders should work with anyone that they have to in the interest of the organisation,” he said.
“I am prepared to work with Mrs Persad- Bissessar but I need some time to myself to make some personal decisions.” On reported discrepancies during the election process, Bharath, while expressing his concerns, said he had conceded to defeat and had no intention of contesting the results.
“The concerns are those I have shared throughout the period and it is either a lack of competence on the part of the party itself or it is deliberate. Which ever the case, it is clearly not acceptable... people who were actual card-carrying members ,their names were not on the list.
“People were also actively campaigning in the polling stations and we also had the issue of the ink coming off very quickly. There was no doubt in my mind that this was clearly an issue, but whether or not that allowed people to have multiple votes I don’'t know. But these are things which causes doubt in people's mind,” Bharath said.
He said given the fact that the UNC also had a matter before the High Court, where the transparency surrounding the general election was brought into question, the party must also display a similar level of integrity. Bharath said he had also congratulated Persad-Bissessar, via text message, on her win, to which she had replied with the word ‘thanks.’