Two days after her fifth consecutive defeat at the polls, a group calling itself the UNC Patriots has called on former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to step aside and allow someone else to take the reign of power of the party.
The call came even as the United National Congress (UNC) national executive moved a motion at Rienzi Complex last evening to retain Persad-Bissessar as leader. The anonymous group said Persad-Bissessar’s time as leader had come and gone and cited her many political defeats since she assumed the office of UNC leader in January 2010.
The statement, dated September 9 and signed by “UNC Patriots”, said while Persad-Bissessar brought victory to the United National Congress since her ascension to the office of political leader on January 24, 2010, it has become abundantly clear that she no longer has the capacity to move them forward as a party.
“We of the UNC Patriots believe she should step aside and allow another Member of Parliament to become Leader of the Opposition and a date should be set forthwith for the election of a new political leader of the UNC,” the group wrote.
The Patriots linked her to her predecessor, party founder and former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, saying, like him, while she contributed in a significant way to the development of the party, “she is failing to realise that her time as leader has come and gone.”
They said: “With this lack of understanding, she is failing to put party first before self and given the fact that we will be facing the polls once again in ten months with the upcoming Local Government elections, the party must prepare itself for resurgence and victory. The Patriots underscored that there had been no internal elections under her watch as its leader.
“The time has come for us to gather our collective thoughts, shake off the defeat of the 2015 general election and move forward with new leadership, ready, willing and able to prove to the people of T&T that we can once again regain their trust and govern by the principles and beliefs of our great party,” they added.
Attempts to reach members of the UNC executive failed as they were all gathered at a meeting at the Couva North constituency office to discuss the legal challenge the party intends to mount against the result of Monday’s election. However, in a release yesterday the party said it had agreed to retain Persad-Bissessar as leader.
Calls for ramadhar’s head too
Congress of the People leader also faced a similar situation yesterday, with the party’s Youth Congress calling for him to step aside in light of the party’s poor showing as part of the PP in the election defeat. Citing COP’s loss in seven of its eight contested seats, reducing the number of MPs from six to one from 2010, the Youth Congress said it took a unanimous decision to ask Ramadhar to demit office.
It said Ramadhar's “failure to maintain a COP identity within the People's Partnership and his refusal to heed the calls of members in the past have led to its current state. “The Youth Congress remains hopeful that a new face can emerge to begin rebuilding and re-engaging disenchanted COP members.”