Chaguanas West constituents are urging their MP Jack Warner to hang up his political boots.
This comes as Warner faces corruption, racketeering and bribery charges arising out of a US-led investigation into Fifa. On May 27, Warner appeared in court on a provisional warrant for his arrest stemming from extradition proceedings initiated against him.
On Tuesday, the call came from several constituents in Warner’s constituency, which he has represented for the past five years.
Constituents feel Warner, leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), should not seek re-election for two reasons—the charges that he now faces and the dwindling popularity of his party, which had attracted widespread support in 2013, in the face of renewed support for the United National Congress (UNC).
They said the odds are now stacked against Warner, who is out on $2.5 million bail.
Though Warner has denied wrongdoing, claiming the charges are part of a US “witch-hunt” meant to punish him for his support of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, constituents feel he should stay out of politics. For years Chaguanas West had been a UNC stronghold. However, in the 2013 by-election, constituents switched allegiance and threw their support behind Warner’s ILP.
In Cacandee, a community that worshipped the ground Warner walked on, Radesh Mahabir said the support Warner generated in the last 60 months had fallen to an all-time low, as he urged the former Fifa vice president, who is now wanted by Interpol, to call it a day.
In 2010, Mahabir said, Warner received overwhelming support as a member of the UNC.
After Warner parted ways with the Government in 2013, Mahabir said, and fought the seat on an ILP ticket, he promised his constituents day-care facilities and that doctors would visit them in their homes should they fall ill.
“None of this never materialised. Plenty people became disappointed and got turned off by Warner false promises after 2013.”
Mahabir said the UNCites who backed the ILP decided to go back to the home of the rising sun.
“Few people want to hear about Warner in the back here. Should he go up for Chaguanas West he go be a one-man team...he go can’t do nothing for the people. The Government in power go stifle and fight Warner and the people would be the ones to suffer. I personally feel he should step down from politics.”
Mahabir said what also displeased residents was Warner’s lack of visibility.
He said Warner went from being one of the hardest working MPs to non-existent in the last two years.
Fall from grace
Mahabir said while the majority of residents were pleased with Warner’s performance, it was time they got someone new to represent them.
“Besides, nobody would support Warner now that he has those charges hanging over his head. Voting for him would be taking a gamble.”
Mahabir said a man was innocent until proven guilty, and he hoped Warner was not carted off to prison when the matter concluded in court.
Pensioner Babooram Nanan said if Warner had files on the UNC he should be careful.
“They would try to bump him off.”
Playing a card game in a parlour along the Cacandee Main Road, Nanan said if Warner had information on the UNC this could bring the party to its knees and hamper its chances at the polls.
“They should know who they playing with because Jack was one of the most powerful figures in global football. It can hamper their chances at the polls. Likewise, if the UNC have secrets on Warner they can also come forward and hang his Jack. This can do more harm than good,” Nanan said.
Joining Nanan at the table was carpenter Derrick Dyett of Jalim Street.
Dyett said while Warner had lost his sting in Felicity, he was a legend in his own right.
“We would never get a MP like Warner again. The man has been an international figure because of his association with Fifa. He is also a humble man who never discriminated anyone,” Dyett said.
Dyett said Warner should hang up his political boots.
“This area is a UNC stronghold. I don’t see Jack winning here again.”
At Lyle Lane, Felicity, Vikash Jaikaran heaped praises on Warner for bringing improvements to the community after many years of neglect.
Jaikaran said Warner was often the topic of conversation at the Felicity Recreational Ground by political pundits in the community.
“For months they have been saying they don’t want Warner back in Chaguanas West. Felicity and Cacandee gone back UNC. Warner is out of the political picture, as far as I see,” Jaikaran said.
Pacheco Vincent, a maxi taxi driver and friend of Jaikaran, said even though Warner had been a good representative, he believed he should ride out into the sunset.
“Jack political days are over,” Vincent said, while fishing in the compound of the Lakhan Karriah Cremation Site.
Vincent said Warner had fallen from grace.
“This is the reality of the situation.” “Nothing could change that,” Vincent pointed out.
PP Government treated
Warner unfairly
A stone’s throw away at Boundary Road, pensioner Ganesh Ramdeen said he voted for Warner in 2010 and 2013 and would do so again in 2015.
“If Jack going up for Chaguanas West I would support him. If he is not contesting I would vote for the PNM,” Ramdeen said.
He described Warner’s commitment and contribution to the constituency and country as heroic.
“The PP Government never treated Jack fairly. The cabal never gave him an easy time. They wanted him out. Jack was used and abused by the party he helped built. They only wanted his money. The same way the UNC betrayed former prime minister Basdeo Panday they did to Jack. If Warner get money from the white man to fund the party I don’t see a problem with that.
“Other politicians do worse and they are still around walking around free,” Ramdeen said.
Ramdeen said while the UNC promised to fight corruption they had not been able to bring Calder Hart to account for allegedly mismanaging taxpayers’ money.
At Warren Monroe Road, Warrenville, Sheriff Ali, 54, felt Warner’s representation was good.
He, however, expressed displeasure with the “rude, unmannerly and disrespectful way” Warner was treated by the UNC before he resigned from the party.
Ali believes the charges against Warner were perfectly timed to sink the MP and the ILP party as the election approaches.
“Why they couldn’t charge him before the general election? Why now? This was done just to destroy Jack,” Ali said.
Ali’s neighbour Keizer Samnath said though he was satisfied with Warner’s performance, he felt the UNC could have handled Warner’s situation differently.
“I don’t like what the UNC did to him. He put his blood, sweat and tears into the party and had to leave.”
He said Warner might be down but was certainly not out.
Jack the fighter
“I think Jack is not going to give up so easily. The man is a fighter,” Samnath said.
Samnath said he had two minds about voting.
“The Government have people confused with what they saying and doing. Every time you turn is this one saying this and that one saying that. They have people head spinning.”
Walking along Tropical Drive in Warrenville, Janet Samnath confessed that Warner never helped the residents on her street.
“Right now we begging for our road to be paved and nobody taking we on. It’s in a mess. In the rainy season is mud and dry season it’s a dust bowl. This is what we have to face,” Samnath complained.
She said while she voted for the UNC in 2010, they would not get her support in 2015.
The unemployed woman said she had been fighting tooth and nail to get a permanent food card.
“I got three temporary food cards, but they don’t want to give me a permanent one. It have plenty people who far better off than me collecting food cards and I can’t get any. I fed up with politicians. None ain’t different,” Samnath said.
Anthony Douglas, a resident of Trace Marshall, Warrenville, said Warner was now missing in action.
The last time Douglas said he spotted Warner was in 2013.
“He came in the back here in a vehicle days before the by-election to get our votes. He never step foot in here again.”
Douglas described Warner’s representation as poor.
“What the UNC and my Prime Minister has done in five years with infrastructural development in the country no Government has ever done. I don’t want to see or hear nothing about the ILP far less for Warner. He is a waste of time. Warner should go home. He will never get my vote.”
Anand Ramlogan of Alligator Trace North, Cunupia, commended Warner for doing more than other government MPs.
Ramlogan, who straightens and paints vehicles, said for years residents had been asking for a pavement from Warren Monroe Road to Low Cost supermarket, but they were ignored.
Admitting that he voted for Warner not once but twice, Ramlogan said he would not go to the polls again.
“You voting for them politicians and you not getting help,” Ramlogan reasoned.
Tears for MP
Nearby, Sieudath Suruj said he believed Warner financially supported the UNC.
“I think the UNC gave him a raw deal.They take what they get from Jack financially and otherwise and now saying he no good...he is a wanted man.
“I does always say anywhere it have too much of Indians it does have cut down and fight. Jack should have known better. I feel he should give up politics now.”
Unsure if he would vote in the election, Suruj said while Warner liked Indian people, football and politics, all had been to his detriment.
Sitting in her yard at Salem Avenue, Cunupia, 84-year-old Korisha Ali, a devout Muslim, said tears flowed from her eyes when she heard that Warner had problems obtaining bail and had to spend a night in prison.
“I cried for him. I like that man too bad. He is a good human being. He like Indian people.”
Ali said she hoped Warner contested Chaguanas West.
“I want Jack back in Parliament. The Opposition Leader giving the Government too much trouble. They only rowing and fighting. They no good,” Ali said.
Along the bustling Monroe Road in Cunupia, businessman Neshan Ramlogan rated Warner’s performance as unsatisfactory.
Ramlogan said Warner neglected their community and focused his attention on the people of Felicity who had now turned their backs on him.
At Pierre Road, Charlieville, vegetable vendor Ryan Jaglal said Warner did a lot of good by uniting the people in the community.
“He brought everyone together for religious and cultural celebrations. Give Jack he jacket, he performed well. He really did a lot for people,” Jaglal said.
‘No comment’
Warner, in response to a text message sent to him on Friday, wrote “regretfully on this occasion Shaliza, no comments.”