4 new PNM faces for Sando local govt elections

THE People’s National Movement (PNM) has selected four new candidates for the San Fernando City Corporation for the December 2 local government elections. Four incumbents have been dropped, but San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello does not believe that will change the results the PNM enjoyed in 2016, when it won all nine districts.

After serving one term in office, the PNM has dropped Patricia Victor-Wilson, who won the Mon Repos/Navet seat before a single vote was cast in the 2016 local elections. She won by default owing to the withdrawal of her only opponent, United National Congress (UNC) candidate Daryl Soodeen, due to ill health. The 2019 UNC candidate for Mon Repos/Navet is Nigel Cuttier.

Earlier this year, deputy mayor Vidya Mungal-Bissessar declared she would not contest the Les Efforts East/Cipero seat after a six-year run. Mungal-Bissessar said her successor is Ryaad Hosein, the elder brother of Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein. Hosein, who works for the SFCC, did not face the PNM screening committee, as he was unopposed for the district.

Two other incumbents were also selected unopposed: Phillip Montano for Marabella South/Vistabella, and Nigum Joseph for Springvale/Paradise. Shelving politics for marriage is Les Effort West councillor Anderson Williams, while La Verne Smith, representative for Marabella West, has moved out of the area. Williams has been replaced by Alliyah Baksh and Michael Johnson will take Smith’s place.

Arnold Soogrim, incumbent for Marabella East, and Teresa Lynch, Cocoyea/Tarouba and Robert Parris, Pleasantville, will face the polls on December 2 for the PNM. Although the UNC did not win a single seat in the 2016 election, the party is fielding a full slate, hoping for a different result.

Its candidates are Rishi Balramsingh, Les Efforts West/La Romaine; Sachin Maharaj, Les Efforts East/Cipero; Mickyle Calliste, Marabella West; Marcus Girdharie, Marabella South/Vistabella; Anthony Fredrick, Springvale/Paradise; Kern Ramdin, Marabella East; Indra Samaroo, Cocoyea/Tarouba; and Clint Davis, Mon Repos/Navet.

UNC co-ordinator Danny Maharaj said San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello’s prediction of a PNM complete sweep is “a bad expectation.”

“The reality is, the PNM made promises they have not met, leaving the people sorely disappointed. The UNC has been working closely with the communities in San Fernando for the past two years. We understand their needs and have forged unbreakable connections.”

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