Hosein, Mohit run again for UNC

BARATARIA/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein and Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit are the first of the opposition’s 19 incumbent MPs who will stand for re-election in their respective constituencies.

Former Naparima College principal Michael Dowlath will face the polls for the first time as the UNC’s San Fernando West candidate.

The UNC announced the selection of the trio in a statement on December 1.

The party began screening potential candidates for the next general election, constitutionally due by August 2025, at its headquarters in Chaguanas on November 29.

In its statement, the party congratulated Hosein, Mohit and Dowlath on their selection as candidates.

“The UNC appreciates every member who has come forward and offered themselves for service.There is a place and role for all.”

The UNC said the election gets closer, it continues its screening process and party mobilisation.”

No date was announced for the next screening of nominees.

But the UNC said its next cottage meeting takes place in Las Lomas on December 2 from 7 pm.

Hosein was elected Barataria/San Juan MP in August 2020. Before this, he was an opposition senator for three years.

Mohit, a former Chaguanas mayor, was also elected in 2020.

Dowlath, the political novice of the trio, has been an educator for the last 34 years.

He has also served as an elder and lay preacher in the Presbyterian Church.

Before the start of the UNC’s screening on November 29, Naparima MP Rodney Charles questioned whether or not the process would be transparent.

He predicted UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar will not choose four incumbent UNC MPs who have publicly questioned her ability to lead the party to victory in the next general election.

Those MPs are Rushton Paray, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Dinesh Rambally and Dr Rai Ragbir.

All of them filed nominations in March to stand for re-election in their respective constituencies of Mayaro, Tabaquite, Chaguanas West and Cumuto/Manzanilla.

Charles, who has also questioned Persad-Bissessar’s ability to lead the UNC to victory, announced last year he will be retiring from electoral politics.

In a statement on November 19, Charles said it was clear that given Persad-Bissessar’s “penchant to punish,” Rushton Paray, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Rai Ragbir and Dinesh Rambally would not be selected as candidates for the upcoming general election.

This, he argued, clearly put Mayaro at risk, given Paray’s popularity in the constituency.

Charles warned that swing voters in the marginal constituencies “will be looking on and taking notes.”

He also warned the UNC is certain to lose San Fernando West if it does not allow Haynes-Alleyne to stand for re-election, saying her St Joseph Convent alumnae in that constituency will not look kindly on the party if she is treated badly in the selection of candidates.

Charles claimed the UNC’s slate of candidates could comprise a majority of incumbent MPs loyal to Persad-Bissessar and some “OJTs” (on-the-job) trainees.

Persad-Bissessar subsequently dismissed all of Charles’ statements.

She insisted the UNC’s screening process would be transparent and fair.

The PNM will conduct another round of screening of nominees at Balisier House on December 2.