Panday: President’s speech describes Govt as ‘totally useless’

Speaking to reporters in the rotunda of the Red House during the interval following yesterday’s opening of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament, Panday said the President’s speech was a perfect description of how the PNM Government had failed to do what was expected of leaders of a country.

He said the fact that the President had to highlight the out of control crime situation meant that "we are on the brink," adding that everyone knew who was responsible for that. He said the President, out of courtesy, yesterday stopped short of publicly blaming the Government for the manner in which crime has been allowed to evolve.

The PNM, Panday said, did not bring any legislation to deal with crime, adding that those Bills brought before the Upper and Lower House dealing with police reform, anti-bail and no bail for kidnappers had done nothing to curb crime. "There is no bail for murders but it has not stopped murders," the Opposition Leader said. Asked what he would do to deal with the escalating crime situation, Panday said he would "undo everything the PNM has done." The first act, he said, would be to stop the financial support of crime, highlighting the URP and CEPEP as the two major areas in which this was done.

Responding to questions about that part of President Richards’ speech that dealt with constituents "calling in on promissory notes," Panday said the only mechanism for cashing in on election promises was "right of recall," whereby Members of Parliament who did not perform to the wishes of their constituents should be removed.

This, the Opposition Leader said, would require constitutional reform, which the President was advocating. "He (President Richards) is supporting me down the line. Everything he says requires constitutional reform," Panday said.

However, Panday said, the President’s speech was not appropriate for the occasion, since its purpose should have been to highlight Government’s policies for the session. The Government should have written Richards’ speech, he said, adding that if that had been the case, the President would not have had to criticise the crime situation, but say what the Government planned to do about it.

Regarding issues of the appearance of a rift between the different slates within the UNC, Panday said what was taking place was surprising to a lot of people because they were not used to seeing a democracy within a political party.

The Opposition Leader boasted that the UNC was the only party in this country, and even the Caribbean, in which the "rank and file" was involved in choosing the leadership. The same "rank and file," Panday said, would be the ones to support the party in the next general elections.

Panday said he was not surprised at how things had developed because he expected democracy to work. He said if he had considered the incoming Political Leader, Winston Dookeran, a foe, he would not have signed his (Dookeran’s) nomination papers.