Former UNC Councilor Marcus Girdharie will re-contest the Marabella South /Vistabella seat in the upcoming Local Government election, except this time under a PNM ticket.

Meanwhile Sheldon Garcia, also a former UNC Councillor, was announced as the PNM’s candidate for Arima Central when the party launched its election campaign at the National Academy for the Performing Arts on Sunday.

Delivering the feature address at the event, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said his party gave no bribe or inducement to former UNC members to cross the floor, clarifying that all 141 candidates screened and selected to represent the party at the polls has volunteered their service.

“We have paid no one a fee and most importantly, we have made no one a promise,” the PM said. 

Girdharie rejected the UNC’s labelling of him as a traitor, providing an explanation for his decision to switch sides. 

“I decided to move to be in a better position to serve my residents, even beyond what I was able to do during my first term,” the new PNM member said. 

He added, “The work I would have done to solidify my position as the councillor for the Marabella South/Vistabella speaks for itself, so for any party to have not chosen me as the candidate may have been a misstep on their part. And as I’ve said, if I hadn’t come to the PNM to be a candidate, I was already a candidate at the UNC. I came because I understood the structure and the professionalism under which, and the leadership that PNM is guided upon.”