Incumbent Cumuto/Manzanilla MP resigns from UNC

ONE day after the announcement of the April 28 general election, one of the five dissident United National Congress (UNC) MPs has resigned from the party.

Dr Rai Ragbir, incumbent MP for Cumuto/Manzanilla, said he was resigning immediately from the UNC, citing disappointment with its current direction.

He will not seek re-election in the 2025 general election.

The UNC is yet to name a candidate for Cumuto/Manzanilla, although it has screened former senator Damian Lyder, Nabila Greene, Vijay Gosine, and Nefertari Kernahan.

The People’s National Movement (PNM) has selected Sanjiv Boodhu as its candidate in that constituency.

Ragbir wrote to the UNC’s national executive on March 19, expressing his disillusionment with the party and his intention to resign with immediate effect.

Ragbir said the party he previously supported no longer upholds the values it once represented, and it is being influenced by individuals whose conduct he found "deeply troubling"

Having withdrew his nomination, he said he saw no reason to remain affiliated with a party “that has lost its moral compass” but vowed to be of service to country in whatever other capacity is presented.

Ragbir was one of the five MPs, together with Rushton Paray, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Rodney Charles and Dinesh Rambally, who challenged the ability of the leadership of the party to win the upcoming election.

In February, Ragbir refused to be screened, citing issues with the composition of the screening committee.

Rambally, the former Chaguanas West MP, also announced his decision on February 28, not to contest the seat he once held, on a UNC ticket.

Charles bade farewell to the Parliament in 2024, signalling that was his last term as MP. Haynes-Alleyne and Paray were screened for the seats they previously held in Tabaquite and Mayaro, but at the time Young rung the election bell, candidates for these two constituencies were not yet announced.

Ragbir is the latest in a rash of resignations from the UNC. On March 18, Allan Aaron Lutchman resigned his post as assistant secretary of the Fyzabad constituency.

Lutchman, in his letter to the political leader and national executive, said after 25 years of unwavering service, the party has strayed far from its founding principles and he could not longer ignore that.

Four members of the UNC La Brea constituency executive and former temporary senator Jowelle De Souza also resigned recently.

In response, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said these resignations were orchestrated and intended to destabilise the party, but she remained optimistic of victory.

The UNC is yet to name its full slate of candidates. Messages to Persad-Bissessar and other executive members of her party as to a possible date for reveal have gone unanswered.