UNC moves to stop Dookeran ‘party’

The UNC also said yesterday that once Dookeran launches any new party, he would have resigned as UNC political leader and all legal mechanisms currently in train to deal with Dookeran would become unneccessary.

Speaking with journalists outside of the EBC’s Frederick Street headquarters in Port-of-Spain yesterday, UNC deputy leader Wade Mark said the party informed the EBC that Dookeran will be launching the NNC on September 10 and its symbol would be “the Risen Sun.”

Observing that the proposed name and symbol of Dookeran’s new party closely resembled those of the UNC, Mark accused Dookeran of deliberately attempting to confuse the electorate when next year’s general elections are called. “It appears that former UNC political leader cannot exist without the shadow of the UNC,” Mark scoffed.

While stating that the UNC was not attempting to deny Dookeran’s constitutional right to form a new party, Mark claimed that the proposed name and symbol of that party were illegal under Section 23(2) of the Representation of the People’s Act Mark added that EBC chairman Dr Norbert Masson told the UNC that Dookeran has not registered any new political party with the Commission to date.

And Dookeran himself yesterday stated that he had not registered any party. He reiterated that he was “moving ahead with his Congress of the People” on September 10 and he would continue to seek the directions of the people as he pursued his “Charter for Change.”

Mark yesterday said that notwithstanding all of the latest developments within the UNC, “Mr Dookeran is not our enemy. We want Mr Dookeran to be our friend. We hope that he does not go with the PNM because if he goes with the PNM then we will have to treat him like the PNM. When UNC begins to roll anything that comes in its way will be crushed,” Mark declared. Reiterating that Dookeran has not resigned as UNC political leader and the UNC is not demanding that he resign, Mark said all matters involving Dookeran have been referred to a senior legal counsel who will shortly advise the party on what its next step should be. “We have not expelled Mr Dookeran. Mr Dookeran has expelled himself. The reality is that to perform the last rites on him we have to ensure that justice is in fact done,” he added.

Mark said the UNC national executive would study the legal advice it receives, it was possible that Dookeran could be referred to the party’s disciplinary committee and the new leadership council would handle the roles allegedly abdicated by Dookeran. This leadership council consists of Mark, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, UNC deputy leader Jack Warner, former attorney-general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and UNC CEO Dr Tim Gopeesingh. Maharaj is currently out of the country until September 14.

Asked who was the head of this council and whether it would confuse the electorate as to who was the real leader of the UNC, Gopeesingh said “there is no leader in the national council” and the UNC national executive still had to determine how the leadership council would function. Asked if former UNC chairman Basdeo Panday has been invited to join the council, Gopeesingh said the UNC national executive had not decided as yet about inviting Panday.

Contacted yesterday, Panday confirmed that he has not been invited by the UNC’s leadership to join the council.

Questioned whether the new leadership council could effectively perform his duties as political leader, Dookeran said he preferred to reserve comment on the internal affairs of the UNC national executive which in his view had lost all political legitimacy.

Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma dismissed attorney Rekha Ramjit’s contention that the UNC needed to muster 30,000 members to remove Dookeran as UNC political leader.