2020 United National Congress leadership election

The 2020 United National Congress leadership election was held on Sunday, 6 December 2020,^[1] after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the current leader of the UNC, faced losses commencing in January 2013 with the wipeout of her People's Partnership-led administration from the Tobago House of Assembly at the 2013 election, loss in the 2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election and loss in the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election.^[8][9] The candidates for political leader were incumbent Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Team Star against former member of parliament for St. Augustine and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment in the People's Partnership's government, Vasant Bharath, on Team Lotus. Former senator and Minister of Transport in the People's Partnership's government, Devant Maharaj, was an early candidate for political leader, but was never formally nominated as he dropped out on nomination day on the 15th of November 2020, citing irregularities in the voting process. He endorsed Vasant Bharath and Team Lotus.^[10][11][12] Kamla Persad-Bissessar won with of 87.15% of the votes, while Vasant Bharath got 12.85% of the votes.^[3]

2020 United National Congress leadership election

← 2017 6 December 2020[1] 2022 →
Turnout	17,066[2]
Candidate Kamla Persad-Bissessar Vasant Bharath Popular vote 14,873 votes[2] 5,455 votes 2,193 votes[3] 2,193 votes Percentage 87.15% 12.07 pp 12.85% 12.85 pp Last election 20,328 votes, 99.22% (2017)[4][5] 17,502 votes, 84.85% (2015)[6] Dropped out; 0 votes, 0% (2017)[7] 1,305 votes, 6.33% (2015)[6] Home Constituency Siparia Saint Augustine Team Star Lotus Symbol
Previous Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Background

Focus on the leadership election occurred when Anita Haynes, Public Relations Officer of the United National Congress, was questioned by reporters on whether or not the Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar would resign.^{[13][14][15][16]} Devant Maharaj was a leading figure in calling for Kamla Persad-Bissessar to step down as political leader. He actively called for her to step down on social media and on billboards he had put up.^[17] On the 27th of October 2020, Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the date for the primary election to be held on Sunday the 6th of December 2020.^[18]

Results

Kamla Persad-Bissessar won with a sweeping victory of 87.15% of the votes, while Vasant Bharath got 12.85% of the votes.^[3] On election night, Persad-Bissessar said her Team Star was on the path to defeat Bharath's Team Lotus. She called for unity within the party and said their main political opponent was the People's National Movement. She claimed under her continued leadership that she would work to make the party more united and stronger. She also acknowledged that there was some reports of elections issues, but that overall everything had gone well. Persad-Bissessar said that the low voter turnout was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was in the general election.^[19] Bharath conceded shortly after midnight and congratulated Persad-Bissessar and wished her success. He also stated the party needs to determine the reason for the low voter turnout then they need to "inspire their ground troops" to win the next general election. Bharath stated that he was willing to work with Persad-Bissessar to help rebuild the party. However, he mentioned that there were irregularities in the election which he had warned about and many were unable to vote. He said that active campaigner on Persad-Bissessar's team were presiding officers, his team was not granted access to a revised list of electors, that there were reports of voters being verbally abused and intimidated, there was paraphernalia of the Star Team being distributed at some precincts, and that his father John Bharath, a founding member of the UNC, was not on the voting list and that there were other people who were not on the revised voter list who were allowed to vote.^[20][21] Devant Maharaj, who dropped out of the election before nomination day and supported Bharath, called on Persad-Bissessar to embrace all and rebuild the party.^[20] The election had the lowest voter turnout for an UNC leadership election with only 17,066 members out of 120,000+ members coming out to vote. This follows after the last leadership election in 2017 was recorded to have the lowest voter turnout.^[2]

Founder of the party, Basdeo Panday, commented before the election that the UNC had no future under the leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissessar nor Vassant Bharath and would eventually die out.^[22] He reiterated again after the election results that the UNC would die, pointing that it had the lowest voter turn out for an UNC leadership election and says that the COVID-19 pandemic had nothing to do with it as the last leadership election was the same. He further said that Kamla Persad-Bissessar killed the party "beyond repair" and that the only way to end the "tribal politics" was for a new party to be formed.^[2] However, political analyst Mukesh Basdeo disagreed with Panday, saying that the party still got a significant number of votes despite the COVID-19 pandemic and that had the election been held in other conditions then it would have showed a decline in the interest of the party. He also stated that the pandemic deterred people from coming out to vote. He noted that smaller third parties were crushed in the 2020 general election and that most of the votes went to the two major parties, the UNC and the PNM.^[2]

Candidates

^[23]

Roles in bold are currently held.

Political leader

Candidate		Last political roles	Announced	Endorsements	Conceded/Dropped out
	Kamla Persad-Bissessar	Incumbent Political Leader (since 2010) Opposition Leader of Trinidad and Tobago (since 2015) Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (2010-2015)	22 September 2020[24]	MPs: Roodal Moonilal,[25] Vandana Mohit,[26] Barry Shiva Padarath,[27] Rishad Seecheran,[28] David A. Lee,[27] Anita Haynes,[27] Dinesh Rambally,[29] Saddam Hosein,[30] Ravi Ratiram,[31] Rudranath Indarsingh,[32] Rai Ragbir,[33] Lackram Persad Bodoe,[34][12] Khadiijah Ameen,[35] Davendranath Tancoo,[36] Rodney Charles[37] Michelle Benjamin[38] Senators: David Nakhid,[39] Anil Roberts[40] Jearlean John,[41] Jayanti R. Lutchmedial,[42] Damian Lyder,[43] Wade Mark[44] Former Senator: Sean S.M. Sobers[12] Constituency Executives: Siparia Constituency Executive,[45] Princes Town Constituency Executive,[46] Couva North Constituency Executive [47]	N/A (won the election)
	Vasant Bharath	Member of Parliament for St. Augustine (2007-2010) Former Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment (2012-2015)	27 October 2020[48]	Former MPs: Jack Warner, Carlos John, Nela Khan, Nizam Baksh, Christine Newallo-Hosein[49] Former Senators/Ministers: Devant Maharaj, Jennifer Jones-Kernahan, Mervyn Assam, Adesh Nanan[49]	7 December 2020[20][21]
	Devant Maharaj	Former Senator and Minister of Transport	15 October 2020[50][51]	N/A	15 November 2020 (nomination day) Never formally nominated and endorsed Vasant Bharath[10][11][12]

Deputy political leaders

Team	Candidates
Star	Jearlean K. John, Lackram Persad Bodoe, David A. Lee
Lotus	Ramona Ramdial, Stephen Ramroop, Joseph A. Pires
N/A	Robert R. Amar

Chairman

Team	Candidate
Star	Davendranath Tancoo
Lotus	Larry Lalla

Vice Chairman

Team	Candidate
Star	Khadijah Ameen
Lotus	Hershael K. Ramesar

Treasurer

Team	Candidate
Star	William Archie
Lotus	Winston Siriram

Party organizer

Team	Candidate
Star	Ravi Ratiram
Lotus	Prakash Williams

Election officer

Team	Candidate
Star	Don T. Sylvester
Lotus	Kamini Ramraj

Policy and strategy officer

Team	Candidate
Star	Sean S.M. Sobers
Lotus	Chunilal Bedassie

Research officer

Team	Candidate
Star	Monifa L. Russell-Andrews
Lotus	Nazima Ali Knox

International relations officer

Team	Candidate
Star	Wilfred Nicholas Morris
Lotus	Joey Harrynan
N/A	Rishi Kanick

Education officer

Team	Candidate
Star	Clifton De Coteau
Lotus	Ramchand Rampersad
N/A	Vera Dookie-Ramlal

Northeast regional representative

Team	Candidate
Star	Neil Gosine
Lotus	Candice Mohan

Northwest regional representative

Team	Candidate
Star	Eli A. Zakour
Lotus	Jason Peru

Central regional representative

Team	Candidate
Star	Imam Rasheed Karim
Lotus	Andrew A.M. Mungal

South regional representative

Team	Candidate
Star	Shanty Boodram
Lotus	Anil Ramjit

Tobago regional representative

Team	Candidate
Star	Bheemal Ramlogan
Lotus	Junior Barrington "Skippy" Thomas

See also

• 2013 Trinidadian local elections
• 2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election
• 2017 Tobago House of Assembly election
• 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election
• 2022 People's National Movement leadership election

Notes

References

1. "Watch: Date for UNC internal election announced". www.looptt.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
2. "Panday: UNC is going to die". www.guardian.co.tt.
3. Sookraj, Radhica (December 8, 2020). "Panday: UNC is going to die". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
4. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
5. "UNC election sees lowest voter turnout in party's history | Loop Trinidad & Tobago". Loop News.
6. "Official results of UNC Internal Elections 2015". December 7, 2015.
7. "Devant raises concerns with UNC election management committee | Loop Trinidad & Tobago". Loop News.
8. "People have sent message". www.guardian.co.tt. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
9. "Government loses key by-election". country.eiu.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
10. "Devant out election race, Kamla a no-show on UNC nomination day". www.guardian.co.tt.
11. "Two-way race for UNC leadership as Devant pulls out". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. November 15, 2020.
12. "Bodoe, Sobers predict clean sweep for Kamla". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. December 6, 2020.
13. "UNC has full confidence in Kamla". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
14. "'No election observers' - UNC calls for recount in 5 seats". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
15. "UNC: Full Confidence in Kamla despite election loss | 103FM: First, Finest, Forever". Retrieved August 12, 2020.
16. "Trinidad & Tobago: 'No election observers' – UNC calls for recount in 5 seats". CARIBREPORT.COM. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
17. "Devant : 'I am behind billboards calling for Kamla to go'". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. September 13, 2020.
18. "Opposition Leader announces date for Internal Elections for her party | I955 FM".
19. "Victorious Kamla calls for unity". Trinidad Express Newspapers.
20. "Vasant concedes defeat, with an appeal". Trinidad Express Newspapers.
21. "Vasant concedes to Kamla in UNC poll". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. December 7, 2020.
22. "Panday: No future for UNC under Kamla, Bharath". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. November 17, 2020.
23. "Kamla, Vasant face off in UNC internal election". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. December 5, 2020.
24. beta (September 23, 2020). "Kamla dares others to challenge her for UNC leadership". Retrieved October 16, 2020.
25. "Moonilal joins support for Persad-Bissessar". www.guardian.co.tt.
26. "Vandana Mohit". www.facebook.com.
27. "Padarath, Lee indicate support for Kamla as Opposition Leader". www.103fm.tt. August 12, 2020.
28. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
29. "Dinesh Rambally - Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West. - DESPERATION AND CHEAP TACTICS BY VASANT BHARATH'S TEAM At this nth hour, Team Vasant, the day before the election is trying a desperate move to stop people voting for Kamla Persad Bissessar and to trick them to vote for him. This is an old tactic by those people. The COP did the same in the 2007 elections, taking out an ad in the newspapers, making it look like an EBC announcement. Of course, it is fake news. VOTE KAMLA PERSAD-BISSESSAR, VOTE THE STAR TEAM! | Facebook". www.facebook.com.
30. "MP for Barataria/ San Juan- Saddam Hosein - Just cast my vote! I'm reaching for the ⭐️ Tonight there will be a sky full of stars ⭐️ | Facebook". www.facebook.com.
31. "Ravi Ratiram - UNC Party Organiser". www.facebook.com.
32. "Rudranath Indarsingh". www.facebook.com.
33. "MP For Cumuto/Manzanilla - Dr. Rai Ragbir". www.facebook.com.
34. "MP for Fyzabad - Dr. Lackram Bodoe". www.facebook.com.
35. "Khadijah Ameen". www.facebook.com.
36. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
37. "MP for Naparima - Rodney Charles". www.facebook.com.
38. "UNC Star Team Launch" – via www.facebook.com.
39. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
40. "Anil Roberts". www.facebook.com.
41. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
42. "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com.
43. "UNC senator on internal election: PNM still the enemy". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. December 1, 2020.
44. "Mark: Bharath should be grateful he is still in UNC". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. November 18, 2020.
45. "Siparia constituency executive pledges support for Kamla | Loop Trinidad & Tobago". Loop News.
46. "UNC Princes Town Constituency Executive Fully Supports Mrs. Persad Bissessar". November 8, 2020.
47. "Couva North constituency executive endorses Kamla | Power 102.1FM Digital". Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
48. beta (October 27, 2020). "Bharath confirms he will challenge Kamla". Retrieved October 28, 2020.
49. "Endorsements roll in for Bharath to lead UNC". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. December 3, 2020.
50. "Devant set to challenge Kamla in UNC internal election | Loop Trinidad & Tobago". Loop News.
51. "Devant to contest UNC internal elections". www.guardian.co.tt.

External links

• Official website