By INVERA ARJOON Monday, October 12 2009

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Vasant Bharath...

TABAQUITE MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday dismissed the United National Congress (UNC) internal party elections carded for January, dubbing this as being “irrelevant”.

Speaking to Newsday, Maharaj said the time for “Rienzi UNC” is over and the population is simply no longer interested.

“Those elections could continue to be postponed, it does not matter to the people, everyday it continues to become more outdated,” he added.

Maharaj said people are more concerned with change in the country and how to remove the Manning administration, which he said is what the “RamJackG” faction of the UNC is all about. Ramesh, Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner and Mayaro MP Winston “Gypsy” Peters have fallen out of favour with the UNC hierarchy for their repeated calls for change and reform within the party.

However, UNC deputy chairman and St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath called on party members to remember that “we are all members of the same party and our common goal is to get into office to provide good governance for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Bharath expressed hope that all members would demonstrate this maturity after the elections as he issued a call for Maharaj and fellow renegade MPs Warner and Peters to bear this in mind, as they continue to appeal for change in the party.

When pressed as to whether the trio would be able to participate in the national congress (October 25) and the national assembly (November 25) Bharath said the decision rests with the party’s disciplinary committee, which is supposed to report to the national executive on November 7.

Under the UNC’s constitution no member can participate in internal elections while they are before the disciplinary committee. Bharath warned that the party does not have any “magic formula” to prevent the fiasco which occurred during the UNC’s internal elections held in June 2001 from repeating themselves. This he said was always a risk in the one man-one vote system which the UNC subscribes to, which he said is one of the most democratic system which could be had by any organisation.

He added that the trio should come to the realisation by now that their actions have not received much “traction outside the UNC.”

Warner had proposed to call a UNC congress on November 29 to determine a date for internal elections, approve the draft manifesto for change and appoint an interim national executive.

Recalling a stand off between supporters from opposing factions of the UNC at Rienzi Complex earlier this year, Bharath said steps are being taken to ensure that this does not happen at either this month’s congress or next month’s assembly.

The UNC’s constitution allows each MP to bring one member for each financial member in their constituency to either event.