PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has been nominated unopposed for the position of leader of the ruling United National Congress (UNC) saying she is proud of her record after first being nominated for the position 15 years ago.
UNC political leader Kamla Persad Bissessar“I am proud of my record: I have never capitulated to political blackmail or fear. Under my stewardship, whether in government or opposition, we matched compassion with competence,” she said after nomination closed on Sunday evening.
“The election process for the post of political leader has now effectively come to an end,” said Ramesh Persad Maharaj, the chairman of the party’s elections management committee. The election was due on August 17.
Persad Bissessar told supporters that when she was first nominated “it was a revolutionary act, an insistence that this party could not stay comfortable in Opposition but had to fight its way into Government to transform our nation.
“The road was long and rough, but we won government shortly after I won leadership in 2010. Three months ago, the people returned us to government with a historic mandate. That victory now makes this internal election a solemn test of strength, clarity, and resolve, “ Persad Bissessar said, after the party won the elections on both occasions as head of a coalition grouping of opposition forces.
She said has always treated an internal election as a contest of purpose, not personalities.
She said when the UNC-led coalition won the April 28 general elections, it “inherited the former regime’s dire socio-economic mess, hard times for our citizens, an escalated crime wave, organized crime networks hardening, and a stunted economy”.
But she said that the government, which now enjoys “a special majority, must display disciplined leadership, principled policy, and a credible plan to rescue and rebuild”.
She told supporters that leadership is hardest when institutions wobble and certainties collapse and that on “such seasons, experience, courage, and competence matter most.
“We strengthened the social safety net while holding fiscal discipline. We expanded education and skills, not as charity but as a growth engine. We upheld law and liberty because the rule of law is the shield of the weak and the restraint on the powerful. We innovated—treating culture as capital, digitizing government services, opening doors for investment.
“These are precedents, not promises. We did it before; we will do it again, better,” she promised adding that dismissing her critics, who say it is time for her to move on.
To those who ask: “After fifteen years, isn’t it time to move on?” the electorate answered three months ago: it is time to move forward—together. Continuity without renewal is stagnation; change without experience is chaos.
“I offer continuity of purpose with renewal of method—new faces elevated, new structures empowered, new ideas incubated, under leadership tested, tempered, and totally committed to victory,” she said, pledging “even deeper internal democracy, wider candidacies, and deliberate mentorship, so the baton is placed, not dropped. This is my contract with you”.
She said under her leadership, the UNC has evolved into a party that rejects division by race, religion, class, or caste.
“We are the voice of the majority of the voiceless, the ordinary citizen, the heartbeat and soul of our nation’s citizenry. Under my leadership, the UNC has shown the nation how to move toward that light, as we saw three months ago when the citizens gave us the overwhelming mandate to govern our beloved country”.
“If we fail in our governance mandate, freedom narrows; if we falter, cynicism wins; if we fracture, the nation bleeds. But if we stand firm, act boldly, and love Trinidad and Tobago more than we fear the cost of change, victory will be ours, and we will be worthy of it.
“Let us renew the mandate. Let us finish the work. Give me the mandate to lead this party again, and together we will prosper and progress as a nation and as a movement,” the 73-year-old Persad Bissessar added.
