(Trinidad Express) Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar won hands down at the UNC internal elections on Sunday, beating fellow contenders, Basdeo Panday and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, even on their home turf by a large margin.

According to figures posted at the Rienzi Complex, Couva, yesterday, Persad-Bissessar got a whopping total of 13,932 votes while a mere 1,359 people voted for Panday and some 1,072 for Maharaj.

A total of 16,363 members voted in Sunday’s internal elections out of a membership of just over 34,000.

The only candidate on Panday’s Patriot slate who managed to grab a place on the Executive is Opposition Senator Wade Mark, who will secure his position as deputy political leader. Mark got the third highest votes, with the first and second deputy position places going to former Chaguanas mayor Suruj Rambachan and Opposition Senator Lyndira Oudit.

However, the figures revealed that Persad-Bissessar was the star of the election.

In Siparia, the constituency with the largest number of polling divisions, Persad-Bissessar received a total of 1,096 votes. Panday failed miserably to woo voters on Persad-Bissessar’s turf, with just 53 people voting for him. Maharaj was able to gather up more votes than Panday, with 103 votes in his favour in Siparia.

In Couva North, Panday’s own constituency, Persad-Bissessar won by an overwhelming majority with 721 votes, Panday trailed far behind with 137 votes and Maharaj with 31. Persad-Bissessar also shined in Tabaquite, Maharaj’s constituency with 612 votes, where Maharaj managed 107 votes and Panday 28 votes.