Although the terms of national executive members will expire in less than two months, the United National Congress still hasn’t declared a date for its contentious internal elections.
When general secretary Peter Kanhai was asked about it yesterday, he replied, “I will repeat what the political leader said, that the party will hold its internal election when it is constitutionally due. The date will be announced by the political leader.”
Pressed further on the issue, he said, “What I can tell you is that if you go back all the way to 2010, you will see that internal elections were held when they were constitutionally due, the most recent being in 2022.”
When it was pointed out that he is an expert on the party’s constitution and could give more details, Kanhai said, “All right, let me put it this way. The current national executive’s term of office runs until June 26 and therefore the elections will be called within the time frame that is permitted and provided for in the constitution. And the track record has shown since 2010 right up to now, that those elections have, in fact, been called and held when they were due.
“So I see no reason to be questioning whether we will deviate from that and there has been no pronouncement by the UNC to the contrary.”
UNC vice chair Khadijah Ameen, who was standing next to Kanhai, interrupted the interview, saying, “Today, you are trying to get the general secretary to tell you the date of the next internal election. The UNC is governed by a constitution and the UNC will abide by its constitution. No date has been set for the election as yet, it is not yet due and it will be announced in due course once the national executive takes a decision. There are clear provisions in the constitution, and we will continue to abide by that.”
The party’s constitution offers little detail about the election process, only stating the length of the term of office.
Section 18 states, “The Political Leader shall hold office for THREE (3) years. All other elected National Executive officers shall hold office for TWO (2) years. They shall hold office until successors to their offices have been elected unless they resign or are removed from office prior to the expiry of their tenure, or their offices otherwise become vacant for any cause.”
Ameen maintained that the public is more focused on national issues.
On the issue of the resistance from within the party due to the internal election issue, Ameen was asked if the party could keep things together before the next general election.
She said: “I am wondering if Trinidad and Tobago can keep it together, I am wondering if families can keep it together because they are literally unable to put food on their table and I am wondering if we as a country could keep it together in terms of being safe.
“There are people who are fleeing the country, there are people who are suffering serious mental illness and breakdowns because they are living in fear of murder and death.”
Ameen said she knows the “bacchanal” from the internal elections is a focus of the media, but there were other issues relating to the quality of life that should get attention.