UNC’s Charles on UPTT’s 3rd party plan:People talking alternatives

Senior Political Reporter

UNC MP Rodney Charles says he’s not aware of any discussions by colleague MP Rushton Paray’s United Patriots slate to form a new party. However, Charles feels given the widespread dissatisfaction in T&T, the disaffected and politically alienated are engaging with others on alternatives.

Charles, who is in Japan, indicated this yesterday, following a post on the “UNC and Proud” Facebook page which is opposed to UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her team.

The U&P page has stated that as a result of the UNC leadership’s “failure to unite the party” following the internal elections, as well as the deliberate omission of MPs from UNC budget consultations, at a convention held last Saturday “among alienated young professionals, and members of other disaffected groups,” an agreement was made to form a new third party—the UPTT.

Paray and his UP slate MPs were not at UNC’s Budget talks.

Paray on Sunday didn’t say “yea” or “nay” on the UPTT plan, but added he wasn’t surprised at the level of discussions and looked forward to a “front row ticket.”

Yesterday, Charles said, “I’m not aware of any discussions by the UP to form a new party. I’m in Japan but would have known. I have the sense that given widespread dissatisfaction in the country, many, especially swing voters, the disaffected and the politically alienated, are engaging with others on what alternatives can be imagined or created to arrest the country’s slide into a dystopia.”

Charles added, “The UNC, if it is to remain relevant, has to reinvent itself, engage meaningfully with the many disparate forces, present the best version of itself to the electorate and develop a new message of hope with policies to match.

“It cannot be same old, same old. 2010 to 2015 solutions may not be remedies for 2025 to 2023 problems. We’re at an inflection point in our politics and I’ll be looking on most interestingly as a citizen and a patriot from the sidelines but with a front-row seat.”

Cumuto Manzanilla MP Dr Rai Ragbir—who was also on Paray’s slate—said he didn’t know of the UPTT plan.

“I’ve been attending to students’ school needs. I’m always open to assist anyone—UNC or PNM. I was at last weekend’s Agrifest speaking with Ministers Kazim Hosein and Avinash Singh. I’m currently heading to collect my invitation to attend Saturday’s 62nd Independence parade at the Queen’s Park Savannah.”

Ragbir, who didn’t attend last year’s Independence celebrations, will attend this year. Paray attended last year. It’s uncertain if he’ll return from overseas in time to attend Saturday’s event. It’s understood that another UP slate member, MP Anita Haynes-Alleyne, is expected to attend the QPS celebrations.

UNC party officials, who brushed off the UPTT “third party,” questioning who was behind it, also said Paray’s UP slate got only 23 per cent of the votes in UNC’s internal election (and not over one third) and Persad-Bissessar’s Star slate got 77 per cent. They said that was in line with the 2015 internal election results.

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