Retired Maj Gen Edmund Dillon was given the all clear to contest the Point Fortin seat for the People’s National Movement (PNM) following the screening of four possible candidates at the party’s South Regional office, San Fernando, on Thursday night.
Candidates from three other constituencies in the South also received the screening committee’s approval. They are:
• Clifford Rambharose for Oropouche West.
• Senator Avinash Singh for Caroni Central.
•Dr Lovell Francis for Moruga/Tableland.
The three candidates for San Fernando East—Christopher Chinapoo, Kenny Phillips and Eber Steele-Attong—were rejected. The executive was given a February 6 deadline to return with new nominees. The executive of the Couva North constituency, who were also called into a meeting following discrepancies uncovered with one of their potential candidates, were also asked to return on February 6 with other more suitable nominees.
Dillon replaces current MP Paula Gopee-Scoon who was not among the nominees. The T&T Guardian understands that while Gopee-Scoon had the support of the party groups, Dillon had the support of the executive. As Point Fortin councilor Peter Bharat, the second candidate to be screened emerged from before the committee, he grabbed his stuff, shook hands with Dillon and appeared to be congratulating him and made his departure from the venue.
Asked if he was leaving before all the candidates were screened and the results announced, Bharat said it did not make any sense sticking around, as the political leader Dr Keith Rowley had indicated to him this may not be his time. Kenwyn Hackshaw and Jo-Anne Bowen Delysia were the two other unsuccessful nominees.
In an interview after his nomination, Dillon congratulated Gopee-Scoon for her achievements and committed to consulting with her to better understand the challenges and issues she encountered during her tenure and build from the foundation she has laid. He said there was never any doubt in his mind that he would have been given the nod to contest the seat.
“I approach everything with confidence and with the Lord above me. So I had the Lord on my side, confidence based on my prayers and my own confidence so there was no doubt in my mind,” he added. Dillon said his first order of business was to understand and move Point Fortin from being a place of problems to one of solutions. He committed to addressing the issue of the long outstanding Point Fortin hospital and the diversification of the energy-based constituency.
“Point Fortin as you know is based on oil and gas and if you understand the world, there is a drastic drop, so we have to look at how we can diversify the economy, looking at places like Cedros and Icacos, fishing villages also known for agriculture. We have to look at alternatives to the oil and gas economy of Point Fortin,” he said.
Dillon, who has been in the employ of Atlantic LNG following his retirement from the Defence Force some two years ago, said he brought to the party not only strength in security matters but also knowledge of the energy and other sectors. About his evolution into the political arena Dillon admitted it has also been one of his goals.
“We always jokingly said in the military, there are two professions you will go into when you retire, either politics or religion. I have not ruled out the latter and I am getting into the first at this point in time,” he said. With the exception of 1986 election when the National Alliance for Reconstruction secured a unprecedented 33-3 landslide at the polls, the PNM has maintained its stronghold in Point Fortin.
At the opening of the UNC Regional Office in San Fernando earlier this week, co-ordinator of the Point Fortin constituency Marlene Coudray said that was one of three seats her government intended to wrest from the PNM as it made its re-election bid. Dillion responded to this challenge.
“We are in this election battle for victory at all cost. The question is one of mobilisation, understanding the issues and challenges of Point Fortin and developing a strategic plan working together. We are going to win this election for Point Fortin,” he said.