FORMER foundation member of the United National Congress (UNC), Trevor Sudama, has had his application for membership to the UNC denied by the party’s national executive.

According to one reliable UNC source, it is the first time in the history of the UNC that someone has been denied membership in the political party.

Ironically, while Sudama’s membership application was submitted simultaneously with that of former Couva South MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, the former Oropouche MP had his application blocked, while Maharaj had his application accepted with much fanfare recently.

It was also reported that Oma Panday wife of former UNC Political Leader and former Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, was instrumental in having Sudama’s membership application scuttled.

“Oma has been against Trevor from the minute he and Ramesh made moves to come back into the UNC fold,” the insider stated.

“She was happy when Trevor visited at the prison in Arouca last year, but now she is saying Trevor does not bring anything to the party.

OMA PANDAY
... bad-mouthing
SUDAMA.

TREVOR SUDAMA
... above current
confusion.

“This is so hypocritical because Oma is ‘shoo-shooing’ with Ramesh all the time, like they are suddenly best friends, and plenty people in the UNC are upset that Ramesh has been allowed to just walk back into the party and read the ‘riot act’ to people whose sins pale in comparison to his.”

The source continued: “People are forgetting that it is Ramesh who orchestrated the collapse of the UNC Government in 2001; Ramesh, in collaboration with Trevor and Ralph Maraj, brought down the government after they had returned to power with 19 seats in 2000.

“But how soon we forget … it was not Trevor on the front page of the newspapers shaking hands with Patrick Manning, it was Ramesh, yet he is accepted as a member while Trevor is kicked out the door.

“This pushy Oma goes about bad-talking Trevor, saying she never liked him and he has little political value, but Trevor can still draw a bigger crowd in Oropouche than the sitting MP, Roodal Moonilal.

“Instead of finding ways to get out of the myriad legal problems she is facing, the woman is only making confusion in the party.

“She always has to have a say in everything; you remember how she got her cousin Bill Chaitan from Canada to run for the Pointe-a-Pierre seat and the massive upheaval that one caused.”

The source then added: “Let’s not forget Jack Warner. He was the first person to talk about unity and bringing back Ramesh and Trevor last year. “In fact, it was Jack who took Trevor to visit Bas in jail.

“But Jack Warner turned around and blocked Trevor’s membership application as a member of the executive.”

The UNC informant also revealed that Sudama “blotted his paper” by refusing to be drawn into the power struggle within the party, with Political Leader Winston Dookeran in conflict with, firstly Panday, and secondly, newly-appointed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

“Trevor tried to be above the confusion in the party, and why should he comment when he was not even a financial member,” the informant reasoned.

“Ramesh lined up behind Bas long before his membership application was approved, so I suppose that was the wise political move to make, but Trevor chose not to take sides.

“The way the politics is right now in the UNC, if you are not openly supporting Kamla, then you are going to feel the pressure.” When contacted on Friday, Sudama declined to make any comment on the matter, other than he has not heard officially from anyone in authority within the UNC that his application had been denied.