Senior Political Reporter
Ex-UNC councillor Marcus Girdharie, who’s seeking to contest Marabella East/Vistabella for the PNM, had told his burgesses that with Local Government reform, it would have been challenging providing for them while in the Opposition and he was yet to see any UNC plan to gain control the San Fernando corporation before his resignation.
Girdharie gave this reason in an explanation to burgesses before he left UNC in May. The statement was to inform them that he would be leaving the UNC for the PNM, he said yesterday.
“I wanted them to hear it from me first and they have indicated they support my decision,” Girdharie told the T&T Guardian.
Yesterday, the Sunday Guardian reported that Girdharie, one of the UNC’s three councillors in the battleground San Fernando corporation, resigned from the party and joined the PNM. Girdharie has, in fact, filed his nomination with the PNM for the same seat.
A Local Government election date for polls to be held within three months of the May 18 Privy Council judgment, is due soon. The Privy Council ruled that the extension of the local government term beyond December 2022 was unlawful. The deadline for the elections is August 18.
Girdharie became the latest UNC member and councillor to resign from the UNC. Others are councillors Sheldon “Fish” Garcia and Samuel Sankar. Garcia rejoined the PNM and is also seeking to contest for PNM in LG polls.
In Girdharie’s statement to burgesses in May, he stated, “Over my first term as your councillor, I did my very best in assisting and providing you with the representation you elected me for. In the position as an Opposition councillor, I have learnt that in politics, there is the provision for ‘them’ and for ‘us’.
“With the establishment of the Local Government reform, the mandate of providing for you my residents will be even more challenging while in Opposition and I am yet to see a plan or strategy by my (present party), the UNC to place us in the majority to control SFCC.
“It is for this reason I stand at this juncture in my political career and ask myself, ‘Do I seek to serve, the people or the party?’.”
He added, “In an attempt to continue the work I have started for the betterment of the residents of Marabella South/Vistabella and by extension, the city of San Fernando, I wish to inform you that I will be resigning from the UNC and will be joining the PNM.
“It is my desire to adequately provide for your needs above and beyond your expectations. I ask you to look at the person I am, what I have already done and give me to opportunity once again to make Marabella South/Vistabella the district that you will feel safe, happy and delighted to live in along with your families.”