Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally -
CHAGUANAS West MP Dinesh Rambally has declared that no one shall silence him from expressing his views on matters of national importance.
He made this declaration during his contribution to the 2024/2025 budget debate in the House of Representatives on October 4.
Rambally is one of five UNC MPs who have publicly questioned the UNC's ability to win the next general election with Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar as its leader.
When he stood up to speak, fellow dissident MPs Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Rodney Charles and Dr Rai Ragbir thumped their desks on the lower end of the opposition's front bench in the House.
Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe and Caroni East MP Dr Rishard Seecheran thumped their desks as well.
UNC MPs Rushton Paray, Rambally, Haynes-Alleyne, Ragbir and Charles were reassigned to those seats in the House on September 9.
They were also not invited to a UNC general election preparation meeting in Chaguanas on September 1.
Paray, Rambally, Haynes-Alleyne and Ragbir have all filed nominations to contest their respective Mayaro, Chaguanas West, Tabaquite and Cumuto/Manzanilla constituencies in next year's election.
Last year, Charles said he will not stand for re-election as Naparima MP.
Rambally said, "I will not allow the trust my constituents placed in me to be betrayed by inaction or complacency. When I became a parliamentarian, I took an oath to faithfully serve all the peoples of the country with integrity and honesty. That is an oath I take very seriously."
He added, "I want to make it abundantly clear, no man or no woman will ever get me to compromise on my principles and my sense of duty to my community and my country."
Rambally said, “Our nation deserves sober leadership from all the members of this House. Leadership that puts the people of TT before their own partisan political interests, that listens to the cries of those who are marginalised, and that takes decisive action to bring about meaningful solutions to the unprecedented problems our country currently faces.”
Charles patted Rambally on his back as he spoke.
Rambally added, "The people of this country are fed up with the bickering, the cheap political pandering and the failure of the political class to listen to their concerns."
Referring to earlier comments from Minister in the Ministry of National Security Ministry Keith Scotland about different measures to fight crime, Rambally said, "If talk and exhortations could solve crime, then I give a thumbs up to the Member for Port of Spain South (Scotland)."
During the annual mid-year parliamentary recess in July, Rambally called on the Prime Minister and Persad-Bissessar to set partisan interests aside and met to discuss solutions to reduce crime.
He criticised the government for what he called a banal budget statement that fails to improve the lives of citizens.
Rambally said the issue of the high crime rate is a management issue. He said the money allocated to the National Security Ministry had not been spent wisely and there was poor financial and resource management.
In the budget, the ministry received a $6.113 billion allocation.
Rambally said there was an urgent need for modernisation of the judicial system including more courts and greater efficiency.
He added concerns had been raised about the efficiency of the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
Rambally called for greater use of alternate dispute resolution and restorative justice practices and an examination of unemployment to address crime.
