UNC screens Glen Ram for Mayaro/Rio Claro

IN SPITE of the bribery charge he is facing, chairman of the Ma­yaro/Rio Claro Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion Glen Ram has been screened by the United National Congress (UNC) as a potential candidate for the upcoming local government elections.

The UNC’s PRO Anita Haynes confirmed Ram was among local government candidates screened two Thursdays ago.

Ram has been in public life for some 20 years and is the councillor for Biche/Charuma.

Before his screening, he vowed not to step down from office, confident that he would be vindicated.

Contacted by telephone on Friday afternoon, Ram said he was at the bank and not at liberty to talk. He promised to return the call.

At a UNC congress on August 18 in Couva, 51 candidates to contest the local elections were named by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

They included candidates for Point Fortin, Tunapuna/Piarco, Arima and Princes Town regional corporations.

Successful candidates for Mayaro/Rio Claro were not named.

Haynes explained because of the number of prospective candidates offering themselves, after the initial screening, the top candidates were invited for a second screening.

“The second round for the Mayaro corporation was held last Friday, two days before the congress, so announcements were not made for that corporation.”

Haynes said she is not certain if candidates selected for the other corporations will be named at the party’s Monday Night Forum scheduled for Debe High School. “We also have a number of public meetings as we go along, and I anticipate some announcements may be made at these meetings.”

On Friday, the UNC screened candidates for the Chaguanas borough and Haynes said next week, screening will take place for the Diego Martin and Port of Spain corporations.

On the opening of nominations for general-election candidates from all 41 constituencies, Haynes said the announcement has generated a lot of interest, and people have been coming to the headquarters to collect forms.

In terms of other incumbents doing what Tabaquite MP Suruj Rambachan has done and calling it quits for electoral politics, Haynes said she was not aware of any other MPs following in his footsteps.

“I don’t know if any of the MPs have spoken to the leader one on one, but I guess if they did, they will choose the right time to make such an announcement.”

Persad-Bissessar has already said she intends to axe some of the incumbents. She warned she will be making some hard decisions on the slate of candidates for both local and general elections.

She said candidates will be a mixture of youth and experience.

Political analysts agree Persad-Bissessar will have to drop some of the UNC MPs with heavy political baggage if she wants a shot at government.