Outgoing Prime Minister and political leader of the People’s National Movement Dr Keith Rowley has made a call for members of the United National Congress who are dissatisfied with their party to join the PNM.
Rowley made the call as he addressed PNM supporters at a political rally in Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain, last night.
He spoke about the clarity and transparency of the PNM screening process for general election candidates as opposed to that of the UNC where he claimed that deals are being made.
“I understand that in the other party there are nine people promised the post of Attorney General, seven of them promised the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
He criticised the UNC, which he said has been screening for months but has not named all their candidates.
“The PNM, we don’t make deals, we ask for commitment, we ask for quality, we ask for service, we ask for a belief in the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
But Rowley went on to make an unprecedented political move.
“And tonight I want to put a call out, all those of you in the UNC, and I want to quote Patrick Manning here, ‘who have found yourself heavy-laden’ come to the PNM and we shall give you political rest, because the PNM is here for you,” he said to the cheers from party supporters.
Rowley urged those from the UNC that if they have an intention to be good to this country and to be a decent right-thinking citizen wanting to contribute to the political arena, “ the doors of the PNM are open.”
In the past weeks there have been several resignations within the UNC, among them activist Victor Roberts and Larry Lalla, who attended the Woodford Square event yesterday.
Other members such as Cumuto/Manzanilla Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Rai Ragbir and Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally have written to the party informing them of their decisions to no longer take part in the screening process to contest the 2025 general election when it is called.
Other MPs who have been labelled as so-called dissidents, Anita Haynes-Alleyne and Rushton Paray have been screened by the UNC and are awaiting feedback on who the party has chosen to contest the seat.
The other dissident, Naparima MP Rodney Charles, has indicated that he is retiring from electoral politics.
The five UNC MPs have been at odds with the leadership of the party since they publicly made calls for last year’s internal elections to be called and publicly criticised the leadership style of Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
When asked to comment on the recent resignations, including some within the UNC’s La Brea constituency executive, Persad-Bissessar dismissed them and said they would have no impact on the party at the polls.