It was the constituency executive and other residents of Mayaro who did not want incumbent MP Winston “Gypsy” Peters to represent them again, says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The PM, clearing her name in the process, made the disclosure at a UNC Town Hall meeting at the Aranguez North Secondary School on Thursday night.
She was responding to a question from a resident who reminded her that Peters, after he was rejected by the UNC screening committee to re-contest the Mayaro seat, said she was “the most ungrateful ingrate” he ever knew.
Peters called a press conference to make the accusation, saying after he was rejected he sought a meeting with Persad-Bissessar and other Government officials but they refused to see him.
The floor member at the Aranguez town hall meeting asked the PM if she could say why Peters called her an “ungrateful ingrate.”
She said the UNC sought the views of the party’s Mayaro constituency executive and other people about Peters running again for the September 7 general election.
She said they made it clear they did not want Peters, that they wanted a different candidate.
“And that is what happened,” she said.
Since Peters’ claims, members of the public have been throwing all blame on Persad-Bissessar.
The PM also responded to another question from moderator, Anthony Harford, on whether this was the most “bruising” election campaign she had ever experienced.
“I find it very interesting and exciting. It’s not bruising in the least. Don’t feel sorry for me. This is the job I chose,” Persad-Bissessar replied. She said tremendous faith in God was a main qualification for the job of prime minister.
She was responding to a question from a young woman who asked what did she need to become a prime minister.
“Tremendous faith in God, a strong sense of spirituality. You have to take plenty blows. Just today I took some blows.
“You have to believe that God has brought you here and He will not leave you alone,” she said to applause from an audience of mainly young people.
The PM bared excerpts of her childhood during her answers, saying her family was poor and she knew what it was like to wake up in the morning and not know what you were going to eat.
She said her family rented several different houses as they moved from place to place, sometimes because they did not have the rent to pay the landlord.
The PM said in the midst of all this her parents made great sacrifices to educate her.