UNC appoints new party groups

THE Opposition UNC has appointed 17 new party groups in the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency.

This happened at the end of a public meeting at the Brazil High School on May 6.

A statement from the party said the groups were sworn in from among members from polling divisions 2051/2066, 2056, 2085, 2660/2665, 2683, 2112, 2671, 2066, 2670, 2055, 2080, 2680, 2065/2070, and various other areas of the constituency, falling both under the Tunapuna/Piarco and the Couva/Talparo/Tabaquite Regional Corporations.

Parts of La Horquetta/Talparo fall in areas controlled by these corporations.

The constituency is represented in the House of Representatives by Youth Development and National Service Minister Foster Cummings.

He is also the PNM's general secretary.

The party said the appointment of these groups is "a clear indication of the steady and remarkable growth of the UNC there (La Horquetta/Talparo) under the co-ordination of deputy leader Jearlean John."

Opposition Leader and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been frequently criticised for several of the party's groups being non-functional during her tenure as political leader since January 24, 2010.

Former UNC parliamentarians Vasant Bharath, Ramona Ramdial, Dr Fuad Khan and Devant Maharaj have been among the more vocal critics.

Within the last two months, UNC MPs Rushton Paray, Dinesh Rambally, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Rodney Charles and Dr Rai Ragbir have publicly called for internal elections to be held when they are constitutionally due.

Elections for all posts on the UNC national executive, with the exception of political leader, are supposed to take place in June.

These MPs have expressed concern that failure to have these elections could weaken the UNC going into next year's general election.

Rambally has said the UNC cannot win that election with Persad-Bissessar as its leader.

While publicly promising to hold internal elections when they are due, Persad-Bissessar and other UNC members have publicly criticised these MPs for allegedly distracting the party's attention away from general election preparations.

She has publicly described Paray as a "PNM infiltrator" and threatened him with expulsion from the UNC.

The party's constitution does not give its political leader sole authority to discipline and/or expel any party member.