Smaller parties preparing for general election

THE National Transformation Alliance (NTA) now has three confirmed candidates for the next general election.

The party had previously selected its political leader, Gary Griffith, as its candidate for St Joseph.

In a statement on December 1, the NTA announced candidates for San Fernando West – Dr Kevin Sarran – and Chaguanas East – Lt Cmdr Norman Dindial.

The NTA said, "Both were previously custodians for these two seats, but as of today they are confimed as the candidates."

Griffith previously said the NTA would select people to act as custodians for different constituencies.

Should the party not form an alliance with other parties to contest the election, Griffith said the custodians will become candidates for the constituencies they were chosen for.

Other custodians selected by the party are Jairzinho Rigsby (Arima), Savita Pierre (Tunapuna), Christine Newallo-Hosein (Toco/Sangre Grande) Bernie Maharaj (Port Spain North/St Ann's West), Paul-Daniel Nahous (Diego Martin West), Errol Fabien (Point Fortin), Gail Gonsalves-Castanada (Port of Spain South), Nicolene Taylor-Chinchamee (Lopinot/Bon Air West), Norman Dindial (Chaguanas East), and Russell Chan (Diego Martin Central).

Rigsby is a former UNC local government election candidate. Newallo-Hosein was the UNC Cumuto/Manzanilla MP from 2010-2015.

On December 1, the UNC announced it had selected Saddam Hosein, Vandana Mohit and Dr Michael Dowlath as its candidates for Barataria/San Juan, Chaguanas East and San Fernando West respectively.

Hosein and Mohit are the first two of the 19 incumbent UNC MPs chosen to stand for re-election.

After an election preparation meeting in Chaguanas in September, the UNC said it expects to win 25 of the 41 constituencies.

The party identified Barataria/San Juan, Chaguanas East and San Fernando West as some of the seats in that group of 25 that it is confident of winning.

Griffith has publicly said that in the absence of an alliance with other parties, the NTA will direct the majority of its resources towards winning marginal constituencies which the PNM and UNC must win to form the government.

Those include San Fernando West, Chaguanas East, Barataria/San Juan, Tunapuna, Toco/Sangre Grande, Moruga/Tableland, Pointe-a-Pierre, La Horquetta/Talparo, Lopinot/ Bon Air West and Mayaro.

The NTA had an alliance with the UNC for last August's local government elections, which ended in a seven-seven tie between the PNM and UNC.

While it won no districts in those elections, the NTA got an alderman on the Diego Martin Borough Corporation.

Griffith and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar have fallen out since February, when Persad-Bissessar accused smaller parties like the NTA of piggybacking on the UNC's resources and doing nothing to help the UNC.

The NTA has been in talks with the Congress of the People (COP) and HOPE (Honesty Opportunity Performance Empowerment) on an alliance for next year's election.

In a WhatsApp comment on December 1, HOPE political leader Timothy Hamel-Smith hinted that progress was being made.

"We established a Steering Committee (SC) to map out the way forward. The SC met yesterday and have already expanded to include another grouping."

Hamel-Smith did not explain what this meant.

He said, "We are targeting the end of January to begin our public 'launch' to fulfil our mission."

Griffith has repeatedly said the NTA was willing to work with other parties that share its principle

He has said the dominance of a single party over others was the reason for the failure of previous coalitions such as the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR, 1986-1991) and the People's Partnership (PP, 2010-2015)

The COP has selected caretakers for La Horquetta/Talparo, San Fernando West, and Laventille West and Diego Martin Central.

COP political leader Kirt Sinnette has also said they could become candidates for these constituencies.

In September, HOPE began screening nominees for Diego Martin North/East, Diego Martin Central, Diego Martin West, Laventille West, Port of Spain South, Tunapuna, Cumuto/Manzanilla, Fyzabad, Mayaro, Naparima, Moruga/Tableland, Toco/Sangre and Tabaquite.