Fuad Khan seeks to be unifying force against ‘cult of Kamla’

FORMER health minister Dr Fuad Khan says he believes any challenger to Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s leadership of the United National Congress (UNC) in the party’s upcoming internal election is bound to fail.

But this belief is not deterring him from possibly taking up the challenge.

Persad-Bissessar, who is also the Opposition Leader, announced the internal election will be held on June 26. Nomination Day is on Sunday. An election management committee, chaired by Ramesh Persad, along with Dr Karleen Bynoe-Sookoo and Marilyn Martin, has been appointed to supervise the process.

As at last Friday, Khan told the Newsday he was still undecided about his participation, but is continuing to talk with former ministers and senators such as Ramona Ramdial, Vasant Bharath, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Fazal Karim and Larry Lalla, among others, to take the party forward.

Bharath, former St Augustine MP and minister of food production, land and marine affairs, who was unsuccessful in his last bid, made it clear to Newsday he is not challenging the leadership.

“I have absolutely no plans to engage in a fraudulent, undemocratic process.”

Former transport minister Devant Maharaj, who migrated to Canada, has adopted the same stance.

“Not at this point, given the corruption within the UNC. I will support anyone else but Kamla.”

Khan said, “We don’t like what we are seeing at the moment. A lot of members are totally disillusioned by the way the party is being run, but they don’t believe they have a fair and free chance at the elections to effect change. The way it is managed...the way it is set up, it is a foregone conclusion there will be a continuation of the cult of Kamla.”

Khan says he sees his role as a unifier to bring back members who, he says, were ostracised from the party, as well as some of the emerging external political forces with an agenda not only to get rid of the PNM, but “the cult of Kamla.”

He feels the UNC is at its weakest at the moment, and with the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), led by former police commissioner Gary Griffith, and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) led by Watson Duke gaining traction, the UNC will be a spent force if there are no changes at the top.

“The PDP already has the two Tobago seats (in the next general election) – one more in Trinidad, and they gone clear. It is a numbers game. The new parties are going after the marginals, and if they win a few they would be in a position to broker with either the PNM or UNC to hold the reins of power.

“The People’s National Movement (PNM) is an institution. If anybody feels it would be easy to move it from the seat of power, they would have a problem – a real challenge.”

Ramdial, one of the advocates for leadership change, has collected her nomination form to contest one of the posts of deputy political leader. Like Khan, Ramdial is also doubtful of Persad-Bissessar’s ability to lead the party to victory in either the local government or general elections.

“She has tried twice, in 2015 and 2020, and I am not convinced she can in the future. Over the past two years, the party has shrunk further. There have been no attempts to grow the membership. The party’s arms have been dormant, there has been no national assembly. The UNC is stuck in virtual mode while other parties are on the ground having physical meetings. Members, constituency executives are complaining they cannot engage the leadership of the party.

“She is also hiding from the media. I can’t recall the last time the media had an opportunity to engage Mrs Persad-Bissessar as a political leader of a party in a one-on-one conversation.”

For these and other reasons, Ramdial said, “Large portions of our membership have moved away to support other third forces – NTA, PDP and PEP (Progressive Empowerment Party, led by Phillip Edward Alexander).”

Responding to Khan’s overtures to the other parties, Griffith said as the interim leader of a new, dynamic and vibrant political party providing an alternative to voters, the activities of another political party are not his business or concern.

UNC founder Basdeo Panday could not be contacted about Khan’s attempts to bring him back into the fold.

“I am not using Panday,” Khan clarified. “I just don’t like the way he has been treated.”