Chairman of the United National Congress (UNC) Jack Warner has said loyalty and allegiance to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar were not enough to elect someone to the party's national executive. Warner said so during a meeting at Emerald Plaza, St Augustine, on Monday.
The meeting was held in support of his candidacy for the post of chairman in Saturday's UNC executive elections.
Warner said he was "amazed" that some of the candidates were claiming loyalty and allegiance to Persad-Bissessar as reasons for their election to office. "These cannot be the only reasons, my friends. If this were true, anybody in the United National Congress can vie for the chairmanship of this party," he added. "Loyalty and allegiance to a political leader, by themselves, are insufficient to lead this party," Warner insisted.
He said under founding leader Basdeo Panday, many members of the national executive were loyal to him, but the party was unable to free itself from opposition politics. He also spoke about an assumption that he was not loyal to Persad-Bissessar. "Where were some persons when Mrs Persad-Bissessar was elected political leader in the internal elections of 2010, but yet could not muster enough votes to be appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament? Where were they then?"
To show his continued loyalty to Persad-Bissessar, Warner asked another question: "Where were some of these persons when hands needed to be twisted, when moral suasion was the shrewd methodology in negotiations to convince nine Opposition parliamentarians to vote in support of her?"
Warner listed several instances where he was the one in constant support of Persad-Bissessar over the past couple of years. "There may be those who are not sober enough to understand the hard work and tenacity that has this party where it is today. Either that, or they are too dishonest to speak the truth," Warner told the meeting.
Warner described his challengers for the post of chairman, Ashvani Mahabir and Mooniram Heru, as "pretenders." Warner said he wanted a record 15,000 votes on Saturday.