FORMER St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar has been officially confirmed and installed as the party's political leader.
He was appointed at the party's National Council meeting at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya on January 11.
In an interview on December 20, Ramadhar said he had been appointed interim leader after former interim leader Kirt Sinnette resigned on December 17.
Ramadhar, who previously led the COP from 2011 to 2016, was recently named a deputy political leader before assuming the top role.
Party deputy leader Wendell Eversley questioned how Ramadhar was appointed interim leader.
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On December 28, Eversley said article 17 of the COP’s constitution indicated that when the office of political leader was vacant for any reason other than the end of its term, the National Council should summon a special conference of the National Assembly within 90 days of the date the office was vacated.
He added that when Sinnette resigned and Ramadhar was appointed to the position, Sinnette had no authority to make such a move.
Newsday understands Ramadhar was the only contender for the political leader's post and the process whereby he was appointed interim leader was questioned by council members, before his installation.
On December 20, Ramadhar said his priority was to fix the COP first before considering whether the party would enter any coalition to contest this year's general election.
Eversely said before Sinnette resigned, he signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) and Honesty Opportunity Empowerment Performance (HOPE) for the three parties to form a coalition to contest the election.
On December 20, NTA political leader Gary Griffith and HOPE leader Timothy Hamel-Smith confirmed the existence of the MOU and said it had been created for parties wishing to join an NTA/COP/HOPE coalition.
Eversley claimed that despite this commitment being made by Sinnette, Ramadhar was speaking as interim leader, with UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar about the COP joining a coalition which the UNC was trying to form.
In a signed letter to interim COP chairman Lonsdale Williams on December 23, Ramadhar asked about the financial status of the party and detailed information about its current membership.
In a daily newspaper report on December 21, Persad-Bissessar said smaller political parties wishing to form a coalition with the UNC must publicly provide details of their strengths before they can be considered to join a UNC-led coalition.
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In that report, Persad-Bissessar also said she had been speaking with Ramadhar before and after he became interim COP leader.
On December 12, Persad-Bissessar held talks with representatives of the Movement for National Development (MND), Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP), COP, Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Public Services Association and other groups about creating a coalition of interests.
The NTA, COP and HOPE (Honesty Opportunity Empowerment Performance) had been having coalition talks before December 12.
