Mayor predicts election loss for defecting
Senior Political Reporter
UNC supporters in Fyzabad will not follow councillor Jason Ali, who has defected to the PNM.
That is the view of Siparia Mayor Doodnath Mayhroo, who said yesterday that Ali has no chance of winning the Fyzabad seat in general elections against any UNC candidate.
“Whether the UNC puts up incumbent MP Dr Lackram Bodoe or someone else, Ali won’t take Fyzabad. He’s just window-dressing for the PNM,” Mayhroo said in response to questions about how Ali’s defection to the PNM might affect the UNC-controlled borough’s operations and his chances for general elections.
Ali resigned from the UNC on August 15 and was among the prospective general election candidates screened by the PNM yesterday for Fyzabad.He won Siparia West/Fyzabad on a UNC ticket and was a member of Mayaro MP Rushton Paray’s United Patriots slate in the opposition party’s internal elections in June.
In his resignation letter, Ali claimed he was victimised and isolated from party activities since he contested the internal poll. He criticised the UNC and its leadership.
PNM Fyzabad official Marilyn Tobias didn’t respond to calls for comment but it was confirmed that Ali held talks with mid-level Fyzabad PNMites.
This means the UNC’s six Siparia councillors have been reduced to five and PNM, which had three councillors, now has Ali’s support.
Mayhroo said although more than 1,800 people voted for Ali in Siparia West/Fyzabad in the 2023 local government election, he has no chance of winning Fyzabad in the general elections.
“Fyzabad isn’t a marginal seat. Bodoe won it by several thousand votes and PNM cannot win there, especially when burgesses see how hard it is to get PNM Government assistance. Feedback on the ground about Ali is already bad,” he said
Mayhroo said the UNC had been aware of Ali’s moves.
“At last week’s corporation meeting, PNM alderman Chris Encinas was telling him ‘welcome to the PNM’, so we knew something was on. We’ll see Ali at next Tuesday’s meeting but we have nothing to tell him. That’s his choice. All the friends he had surrounded himself with are now turning on him. I don’t think anyone of any consequence will cross to PNM further.”
Mayhroo said Ali’s defection won’t affect council operations or take anything away from the UNC.
“It’s the political leader’s call if there’s to be a UNC person to shadow Ali’s duties and look after the UNC supporters who Ali turned his back on by going to PNM,” he said.
He explained that if Ali got the PNM’s nod to contest Fyzabad, he would remain a councillor and could contest holding that post but would have to resign “if by some stretch of the imagination he wins.”
Meanwhile, asked to comment on Ali’s defection, Paray said, “The internal elections are over. The UNC United Patriots was a good idea and an excellent ideal. It was a breath of fresh air for the UNC and T&T. Sadly, the internal is now over. There’s one UNC and the enemy continues to be runaway crime, unemployment and collapsing infrastructure under the lazy leadership of Dr Rowley and his Cabinet.
“I remain a committed and loyal member of the version of UNC that I joined years ago. I’ll continue the struggle respectfully, as I did during the campaign, to return the party to that version. As for others, they’ll find a path that satisfies their personal and political desire, which I have no doubt is for a better T&T. I still believe today that a stronger UNC is a stronger T&T.”
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