PARTY EXODUS: Devant Maharaj: "Lalla’s resignation exposes leadership failures in UNC"

The recent resignation of Senior Counsel Larry Lalla from the United National Congress (UNC) is not merely a footnote in the party’s history—it is a deafening alarm bell, a clarion call for introspection that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar leadership has chosen to ignore.

This resignation, coupled with the silent but damning exodus of sitting Members of Parliament, as well as the systematic purging of dedicated constituency executives, paints a grim picture of a party in free-fall.

Yet, the Persad-Bissessar UNC remains eerily indifferent, more consumed with courting external alliances with the OWTU and PEP—groups that have spent decades in open hostility to the UNC—than addressing the rot festering within its own ranks.

While the leadership parades its so-called unity efforts outside the party, it has turned a cold, calculated blind eye to the simmering discontent within. Instead of nurturing internal cohesion and addressing the legitimate grievances of its members, the Persad-Bissessar-led UNC has chosen to sacrifice its most loyal and competent supporters on the altar of political expediency.

The likes of Arnold Ram, Ravi Ratiram and Damian Lyder—whose contributions to the party’s progress are as substantial as a desert mirage—are inexplicably elevated, while seasoned stalwarts like Larry Lalla are unceremoniously discarded like yesterday’s news.

Lalla’s unwavering dedication to the UNC is a matter of public record. He served as a senator, contested internal elections, penned incisive opinion pieces, and represented the party on national platforms with distinction.

Yet, his forced resignation is not an isolated incident—it is emblematic of a toxic pattern of neglect and betrayal under Persad-Bissessar’s leadership. How can a party that claims to be the voice of the people justify casting aside those who have poured their blood, sweat and tears into its cause?

This growing disaffection has not escaped the notice of the People’s National Movement (PNM). Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley, channelling the late Patrick Manning, extended a thinly veiled invitation to disenchanted UNC members: “All those of you in the UNC who have found yourselves heavy-laden, come to the PNM, and we shall give you political rest.”

For many UNC faithful, weary of the UNC’s backroom deals, blatant favouritism, and the elevation of individuals with questionable pasts, Rowley’s call is becoming increasingly irresistible.

The UNC, once a beacon of hope and a symbol of progressive change, has devolved into a cesspool of self-interest, where loyalty is rewarded only if it serves the whims of a select few. Constituency seats, ministerial offices and State board positions are traded like trinkets at a flea market while those who have dedicated their lives to the party are unceremoniously discarded without so much as a second thought.

This is not the UNC we once knew, and it is certainly not the UNC that Trinidad and Tobago deserves.

As a member of the UNC with a deep-seated commitment to the principles of good governance, I can no longer stand idly by as the party I once believed in crumbles under the weight of Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s ineptitude. No doubt it was with a heavy heart, but an unshakable resolve, that Lalla announced his resignation.

Lalla, like many others, resigned not from the ideals of the UNC, but from the incompetence, indifference and moral bankruptcy of Persad-Bissessar’s leadership.

To my fellow UNC members, I urge you to open your eyes and confront the stark reality of our party’s decline. We cannot continue to tolerate a leadership that prioritises self-interest over service, blind loyalty over competence, and backroom deals over principled governance.

The time has come for a revolution within the UNC—a return to the values that once made us a force for change. Kamla Persad-Bissessar is not the UNC; she is an anchor dragging us into irrelevance. As the late Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”

The UNC must take responsibility for its failures and chart a new course. If it fails to do so, it risks becoming a mere footnote in the annals of Trinidad and Tobago’s political history—a shadow of its former self, devoid of purpose and devoid of hope.

The fight for a better Trinidad and Tobago continues, but it cannot be waged under a Persad-Bissessar-led UNC banner that has lost its moral compass. I resign from Persad-Bissessar, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to the ideals of the UNC. The time for renewal is now. The time for change is now. The time to reclaim our party from the clutches of failed leadership is now.

CITATION/CREDIT: Devant Maharaj | Trinidad Express