Dookeran: Panday not resigning

Last week, a daily newspaper (not Newsday) report quoted unnamed sources claiming that Dookeran had contacted Panday in London and the UNC leader had told Dookeran that he was not going to contest the party’s executive elections on October 2.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday yesterday, Dookeran said he did speak to Panday but the issue of him remaining as UNC leader or contesting the post on October 2 was not discussed. "I don’t know where they got that," the St Augustine MP said. Over the last few weeks, there have been conflicting reports about whether or not Panday is standing for re-election or not.

Last week, Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the consensus of the majority of UNC MPs was that Panday should remain as leader. Persad-Bissessar and Dookeran said there was no truth to rival factions gathering around them as potential candidates for the party’s leadership. Persad-Bissessar said she has no leadership ambitions while Dookeran has declined to say whether or not he has such ambitions. Dookeran said Panday will be returning to TT "in the next few days" and all questions will be answered then. He could not give a specific date as to when Panday would be returning home.

Dookeran also said neither he nor anyone affiliated to him was responsible for a mysterious UNC membership advertisement which appeared in the newspapers last week. He said the media should be focusing on the bigger issues happening in TT rather than the internal activities of the UNC. One UNC MP yesterday claimed the ad was an attempt by UNC financiers to "sell membership" to other parties. The MP said he would contact Panday in London and ask him to intervene. However up to press time, attempts to contact the MP to find out whether or not he spoke to Panday were unsuccessful.