The Independent Liberal Party was a political party of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. It was formed in July 2013, after Jack Warner was not reselected as the candidate for the Chaguanas West by-election for the

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago. The UNC is a Centre-left politics, centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unio ...

(UNC) party. It was launched at a political rally, in Jubilee Grounds, Pierre Road,

Chaguanas The Borough of Chaguanas is the largest municipality (83,489 at the 2011 census) and fastest-growing
– Afr ...

. Founder Jack Warner resigned in September, 2015 following the party's defeat in the 2015 general election. He was replaced by attorney Rekha Ramjit, who had previously served as the party's chairman, and who defeated Simeon Mahabir in a 10 October 2015 internal party election.

Campaigns

Chaguanas West by-election 2013

Jack Austin Warner Jack Austin Warner (born Austin Warner; 26 January 1943) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician, businessman, and former football executive. Warner was Vice President of FIFA and President of CONCACAF until his suspension and eventual resigna ...

fought the

Chaguanas West Chaguanas West is a parliamentary constituency in Trinidad and Tobago. It was created in 2007 alongside Chaguanas East when the Chaguanas constituency was divided. Geography The constituency contains the western areas of the town of Chagua ...

by-election on 29 July 2013, and won, beating out the closest candidate

Kadijah Ameen Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah () is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in the Muslim world, along wi ...

by a 2 to 1 margin.

2013 Local Government elections

The party contested 136 electoral districts in the local government elections on October 21, 2013. They won 102,918 votes and 3 seats: two at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation and one at the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation. During the elections for both Mayor and Deputy Mayor at the deadlocked Chaguanas Borough Corporation on November 6, 2013, one of the elected ILP councillors, Faaiq Mohammed chose to vote for UNC candidate Vandana Mohit over the ILP's candidate Falisha Isahak citing 600 constituents signed a petition objecting to the appointment of Isahak. Mohammed was accused by Warner for taking a $2.5 million bribe from the UNC and was expelled from the ILP. A defamation claim was brought against Warner that Mohammed won in 2014.

2015 general elections

The party contested 26 out of 41 seats in the 2015 General Elections held on 7 September 2015 but failed to win a seat. As a result of the party defeat at the polls, Warner resigned as political leader of the ILP.

2016 Local Government elections

The ILP offered only seven candidates but lost all of their seats during the 2016 Local Government Elections. They did not contest the 2019 local government elections.

2020 general elections

Founder Jack Warner announced that he would re-enter politics and contest the Lopinot/Bon Air West seat for the August 10th general elections. Despite expressing strong confidence that he could win the seat and possibly be the tie-breaker in the event of an electoral deadlock, Warner lost to

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active Politics of Trinidad and Tobago, political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's hist ...

(PNM) candidate Marvin Gonzales. After the People's National Movement declared victory at the polls, Warner announced his retirement from politics while the political leader of the ILP Rekha Ramjit resigned.

References

External links

Official website
Political parties in Trinidad and Tobago Political parties established in 2013 {{Trinidad-stub Political parties disestablished in 2023