‘Unity must not be at any cost’

"We open our arms to unity but that unity must be within a disciplined framework," he said.

"Unity must not be at any cost. We are not only prepared to embrace those who have left but also to embrace those outside who also wish to come inside," he said in his address at a political meeting in Rio Claro on Friday night.

Panday said disciplined and genuine people were needed to propel the party into power after the next General Elections. "We must make sure that we do not make the same mistake twice, we must make sure that if we win the elections, we do not want those we put into power, within one year after we win to go and join the PNM on the other side," he said.

"So we must be sure that when we go in there we go in with disciplined people, we go in with loyal people, we go in with genuine people, we go in with people who would give their lives rather than sell out to the other side."

Panday defended his controversial statement about politics having its own morality by stating that behaviour during times of war and peace were on opposite ends of the morality spectrum.

Referring to the charges laid against him for corruptly receiving 25,000 pounds sterling from businessman Ishwar Galbarsingh and former UNC minister Carlos John, Panday insisted that the charges were "patently false."

"I am innocent of this charge and they cannot prove it unless they frame me," he said.

The Opposition Leader said he had refused to accept bail, which was set at $750,000 and later reduced to, in protest over the manner of the arrest, which he described as "stage-managed to cause the utmost embarrassment."

He said he also wanted to "show the PNM that I have the courage to take anything they have to dish up" and to set an example to fellow parliamentarians and supporters if faced with similar charges. As he recalled his prison stay, Panday thanked prison officers at the Fredrick Street and Golden Grove Maximum Security prisons. He said while he was kept apart from the general prison population, he received a raucous welcome at both facilities and prisoners shouted words of encouragement from the small windows of their cells.

He also publicly thanked the Inter-Religious Organisation, (IRO), delegation headed by Roman Catholic Archbishop, Edward Gilbert for their visit and words of advice.

The UNC leader said that it was the tears of supporters during his Tuesday appearance at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ court, which convinced him to accept bail.

The bail was secured by UNC CEO, Dr Tim Goopeesingh.