Sankar stays with UNC, but says: 'It’s not where I sit, it’s where I stand'

SAMUEL Sankar, UNC councillor for Kelly Village/Warrenville, fears his decision to defy orders from his political leader and move closer to the PNM might be the death of his political career.

But he has not lost any sleep over it.

UNC supporters were left angered after Sankar was spotted and warmly welcomed at a PNM political meeting on Tuesday night in Chaguanas. This came three months after he attended a local government reform consultation held on August 9 by Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi, after UNC councillors were ordered not to attend.

In an interview with Newsday on Thursday afternoon, Sankar cleared the air on speculation that he had crossed the floor.

He is still a member of the UNC but will continue to do what is necessary, even if it means openly violating the policies of his party, to ensure his constituents are taken care of.

“I know that could cost me. I'm not bothered about it. I'm not losing sleep about it. Politics did not make me and politics will not break me.

“It’s not where I sit, but where I stand. My position is clear: I’m here for the people. I was elected without fear or favour. I took an oath to represent the people. The Prime Minister is the prime minister of the country, and is not he's not a prime minister of a political party...If I have to go to the end to serve my people, then I did well.”

He hopes to meet and speak with opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, even though she said, on Wednesday that she had no intention of giving him an audience.

Persad-Bissessar told Newsday she has no bad feelings over Sankar’s move.

While she could not say if he is still a part of the party, as far as Sankar knows he is a UNC member.

After he attended the PNM meeting he was removed from UNC WhatsApp groups and labelled a “Judas.”

Sankar thanked those who “saw the bigger picture” and came to his defence.

“I'm not peeved about it or anything like that.

"I have work to do. I have burgesses to take care of, a whole clean-up campaign, and hampers distribution coming up. I’m taking care of my people.”

Sankar further cleared the air in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Without naming the opposition leader, the post read, “If your leadership can’t be questioned, then you are a questionable leader.”

He denied the comment was a direct attack on Persad-Bissessar or any other member of the UNC executive.

“I work with the leadership consulting group and I get quotes from Stephen Covey and many other transformational leadership mentors. On Wednesday I did my normal posting on Facebook, and then there you have the comments thinking I was referring to one person... It’s not limited or directed to one particular person or organisation. I share those things. If you scroll down, or you review my leadership posts, I would always go with Franklin Covey (an organisation that focuses on time management and organisational principles).”

Given the opportunity to contest the next local government elections for the UNC, Sankar said he will step forward.

Asked if he would take up the opportunity if it came under the PNM, he said, “I can’t say that at this time.”