Vasant calls on UNC election committee to resign over bias to Kamla

VASANT Bharath's contention about odds being stacked against him to lose Sunday's UNC internal elections to incumbent leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, took a new twist on Monday when the party's internal elections committee cancelled a re-scheduled meeting it was supposed to hold with him on Wednesday. In cancelling the meeting, the committee's chairman Ramesh Persad-Maharaj condemned Bharath for attacking the committee.

Bharath swiftly countered by demanding the immediate resignation of the committee's members for failing to address his concerns about the elections.

In a signed letter on Monday to Bharath, Persad-Maharaj said Bharath's attack on the committee's independence and integrity last Saturday could not go unnoticed.

"It was unwarranted, disrespectful, scandalous and only served to bring our party into odium, ridicule and disrepute. Your statements were economical of the truth."

He said, as a result, the committee decided not to meet with Bharath and his Lotus Team at the UNC's Tunapuna office on Wednesday.

Referring to a meeting with Bharath which the committee cancelled last Friday and rescheduled for Wednesday, Persad-Maharaj said there was insufficient time for the issues raised by Bharath to be discussed.

However, instead of being courteous to the committee, Persad-Maharaj continued, Bharath "blew it all out of proportion" and masqueraded to gain publicity to suit his agenda."

On Saturday, Bharath said it was only last Tuesday that his slate got the party membership list. That list and no list are essentially the same, he said, adding it did not have any useful information. There were no contact numbers or home and e-mail addresses. As a result, he believes his slate is at a significant disadvantage. He said his slate knows the “proper list” exists, saying Persad-Bissessar and her members have been campaigning for the past few weeks. He accused her and her team of sending members e-mails, text messages and "paraphernalia," and calling supporters individually, asking them to support her slate.

Persad-Maharaj, in his letter, said the committee had constantly assured Bharath of its commitment to free and fair elections through a series of e-mails. Persad-Maharaj said the committee gave Bharath information about election rules and the membership list he asked for.

Persad-Maharaj, however, admitted that with respect to the membership list, the committee had no information on UNC members' telephone numbers and addresses.

"In any event, that is private information."

Declaring himself and the other committee members to be independent and fearless, Persad-Maharaj said, "Our service to the party is selfless and genuine."

Persad-Maharaj said he was offended by Bharath's claim that he was "merely a puppet of the political directorate that appointed him."

Declaring that eligible voters will vote on Sunday and the process will be fully transparent, Persad-Maharaj asked Bharath, "Where is there room for your Trumpian conspiracy of fraud?"

Persad-Maharaj said the committee felt that "in the interest of peace" it was best that Wednesday's meeting be cancelled.

But Persad-Maharaj added, "Perhaps this is what you really want."

He told Bharath the committee would address all of his concerns in writing, keep him updated on all relevant matters and send a letter to him about its meeting with Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith about the elections.

In response, Bharath told Persad-Maharaj, "You have boldly admitted to not caring whether the persons appointed to oversee the elections are publicly declared supporters and enablers of Kamla Persad-Bissessar."

He claimed that some of those people were actively campaigning for Persad-Bissessar but that was "an irrelevant issue" for Persad-Maharaj as chairman.

Describing the reasons for cancelling Wednesday's meeting as feeble, Bharath said "any competent and independent election chairman" could deal with the matters he raised at a moment's notice. He wondered whether Persad-Maharaj was just twiddling his thumbs "awaiting instructions on how to perform your task."

Under the circumstances, Bharath told Persad-Maharaj, "I am forced to call upon you and any member of the committee which agreed to this position to immediately resign from the unilaterally appointed election committee.

Efforts to contact Persad-Bissessar for comment on the cancellation of the committee's meeting with Bharath were unsuccessful. Persad-Bissessar was scheduled to speak at a UNC virtual meeting on Monday night.

In the weeks leading up to the elections, Bharath has publicly called for a meeting between the committee, Persad-Bissessar and himself to discuss multiple concerns which his Lotus Team has about the conduct of the elections.