PM addresses Jack issue tonight
PRIME MINISTER and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is due to make a statement tonight which is expected to address the Jack Warner issue.
High-ranking party officials yesterday confirmed Persad-Bissessar is due to speak at the party’s Monday Night Forum scheduled for the Gasparillo Composite School Gasparillo. The forum is due to start at 7pm. Party officials said Persad-Bissessar is expected address the issues surrounding Warner, who resigned as a Cabinet minister, UNC chairman and as MP two weeks ago and who launched his bid for re-election in a bye-election due to be announced after his seat is declared vacant on Friday.
Newsday also understands that the Prime Minister could also make a statement in Parliament on Friday, where Speaker of the House of Representatives Wade Mark is due to declare the seat vacant. It is understood the Prime Minister could take the opportunity to announce the date of the bye-election in the chamber.
UNC party officials yesterday said the party is of the view that the bye-election, due by August, will be held first before Local Government elections, due by October. Party insiders are of the view that the Local Government polls require more attention and focus because of its possible greater implications.
Some party insiders yesterday expressed the view that Warner may be positioning himself for a leadership challenge within the UNC.
Newsday learnt yesterday that the post of UNC political leader could well come up for election later this year. Under the UNC constitution, the post is for a term of three years. Persad-Bissessar was elected to the post in 2010 and this term expired in January this year. However, it is understood that earlier this year the party resolved to keep the current leader in post and defer any elections until after the Local Government elections.
At the Monday Night Forum on April 22, Persad-Bissessar explained her decision to accept Warner’s resignation as minister, stating she accepted in the interest of protecting the Government from distraction.
Warner, in a rally a few days later on April 25, attacked the Cabinet, alleging the Prime Minister was influenced by a cabal and announcing his resignation as an MP.
The Prime Minister, in a direct response to Warner, subsequently responded stating the only people who controls her is not a cabal but rather voters.