Bharath: UNC members are frustrated

TEAM LOTUS' leader Vasant Bharath remained steadfast he will oust the current political leader of the United National Congress (UNC).

Up to press time, votes were still being counted for the party's internal election race which saw Bharath go up against the party's incumbent, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Up to press time, Bharath and members of his slate were at Doc's Ranch at Phillipine, south Trinidad, monitoring the counting of ballots and the results. He told Newsday he was confident of victory, but lamented there were a number of irregularities in the voting process, including members' names not being on the voters' list.

"There was a situation where we had to call the elections committee because two members of Parliament almost took up residence in two of the polling stations and their presence were intimidating to voters coming in," he said.

Slow and steady described the voting turnout at several polling stations during the UNC’s internal elections on Sunday.

Bharath said he was confident of victory after voting at the St Joseph polling station at the Aranguez Community Centre.

“The supporters of this party are fed up of losing, they’ve lost maybe ten or 11 elections over the last ten years, there are no party organisations that are functional and they feel a sense of disenchantment and frustration, they feel victimised and I think it will come out in this election through their vote," he said earlier in the day.

He said there were many breaches of the party’s constitution over the past ten years.

“The constitution as it stands now has some minor flaws but the reality is it’s a good constitution once it’s observed and that has been the problem, it has not been observed. The current leader has unilaterally assumed a lot of power unto herself, bypassing the constitution in many instances, such as bringing forward her leadership election to coincide with the national executive election in 2017, so she could run with a slate, but that is specifically forbidden in the constitution.

“Similarly, there are no meetings that are held at the times that they’re supposed to be held, such as the women’s congress, the youth congress, and many of the constituency executive meetings that are supposed to be held on a three-monthly basis but are never held unless a general election is being called.”

UNC senator Wade Mark, coordinator for the Laventille East/Morvant, Laventille West, Port of Spain/St Ann’s West and Port of Spain South polling stations for the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led slate, said it was clear the Stars would be victorious.

“It has been a very energetic campaign, we thank everyone for participating, it has made our party stronger, it has energised our membership, it has put on a more organised and progressive and made us ready for any eventuality and that is a very positive aspect of this campaign,” he too said earlier in the day.