NCT announces two candidates

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Carisa Lee

Political Leader of the National Coalition for Transformation (NCT) Nalini Dial believes the Patriotic Front headed by Mickela Panday should have had its ducks in a row before it announced its intention to contest the 2020 general election.

“Before you come to the public you must be sure of what you want to do,” Dial said.

“We are not boasting, we don’t have 41 candidates, we have two and that’s what we are announcing.

On Tuesday, the Patriotic Front, who three weeks ago announced it’s intention to contest all 41 seats bowed out of this year’s election race.

Dial said prior to the Patriotic Front’s decision both parties were part of a meeting hosted by former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday with other small parties with hopes of uniting.

“We speak to any party you know once they on the same path,” Dial said.

Guardian Media reached out to Mickela for a response to Dial’s statement. She said they were not aware of the election date when they made the announcement and did what the party thought was best. She said an election is not contested for contesting sake.

“It’s about people before politics,” Panday said.

The Patriotic Front leader confirmed that she was part of a meeting with the NCT and other small political parties but they couldn’t come to an agreement.

But Dial said the party’s objective was always to be part of coalition Government even though plans to contest the general election under one umbrella fell through.

“A lot of them wanted to keep their logo and their signs,” she said.

“We couldn’t come to a joint decision,” she continued.

She confirmed she is currently in talks with other parties and an independent candidate.

Dial announced Peter Amann as the NCT’s candidate for D’Abadie O’Meara. He contested the same seat in 2015 for the Democratic Development Party.

She said the party is still campaigning to learn the problems.