Don’t hold your breath

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday advised Government not to hold its breath if Government believes  the UNC would help them pass the Police Reform Bills in Parliament anytime soon. On Friday, the Government and Opposition displayed a rare instance of cooperation to the population when they succeeded in passing the Occupational Health and Safety Bill in the House of Representatives.

Describing the occasion as “an historic day in the Parliament,” Leader of Government Business Ken Valley was hopeful that this new found political camaraderie between the PNM and UNC meant a new disposition on the Opposition’s part regarding the passage of special legislation in Parliament. Panday yesterday dashed Valley’s hopes, subtly hinting that the UNC’s stance of non-cooperation with Government on legislation requiring Opposition support for passage remains unchanged. “We (UNC) are waiting for him (Prime Minister Patrick Manning) to come (with the Bills). We have made our position absolutely clear that without constitutional reform, we will not support the Police Reform Bills,” the UNC leader declared.

Prior to the 2000 general election, the PNM and UNC agreed that the Bills would be passed in Parliament regardless of who won the election. The UNC won those polls but the Bills were never passed in Parliament. In a Newsday story last month, Panday said the longstanding public perception that the UNC reneged on an agreement with the PNM was wrong and blamed former President Arthur NR Robinson for the Bills not being passed. Panday had said that the Bills could not work without constitutional reform but the UNC was removed from office before it had a chance to initiate the reform process.

The policy of non-cooperation and civil disobedience has been publicly criticised by Opposition MPs Gerald Yetming and Winston Dookeran. Both men believe that strategy is harming the party’s chances of ever regaining Government.