Ratiram files papers as UNC Couva North candidate

Although there was uncertainty in the United National Congress (UNC) camp in the Couva North constituency, Ravi Raitram filed his nomination papers to contest the general election on August 10.

Shortly before 11 am on Friday, Ratiram and his supporters made their way to the electoral office on Ramsaran Street, Chaguanas.

Earlier on Friday morning, rumours and speculation circulated on social media and other media outlets that Ratiram had replaced by Rishi Tripathi, who served a temporary senator for the UNC.

The confusion has been linked to the numerous protests by some members of the Couva North constituency over the past couple of weeks. They had called for the reinstatement of Ramona Ramdial, MP for the past ten years, to contest the August 10 general election.

Raitram who did not directly comment, said there were no hiccups in filing his nomination papers and he was happy to be able to contest the election.

“Today is a wonderful day and we will continue to focus on positive energy on togetherness, unity and serving the people,” he said.

He was confident the UNC would win the election and urged supporters to remain focused.

“Today marks the beginning of good governance in TT. Let us stay focused on our goal, let us stay focused on returning good governance to our country. Let us stay focused on the politics of addition, where each and every citizen is represented by the UNC.”

PNM candidate Sharda Satram filed her papers earlier on Friday, but did not speak with the media. She was seen celebrating with party supporters and taking photos.