UNC Canada tells Panday to step aside

THE FRIENDS of the United National Congress (FUNC) Canada appealed to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday to “make the correct decision” and not allow a third party to determine who should be the official leader of the Opposition. In an e-mail letter dated November 3 which was couched with diplomacy, the Friends of UNC called for Panday as the party’s “elder Statesman” to step aside and not to let the current situation in the party escalate. “Make this decision part of your legacy. It is this decision, and this decision only that will determine how you will be remembered by your people,” said public relations officer for the group, Capil Bissoon. The letter was sent to Panday in response to the wrangling which has been taking place in the UNC following the party’s internal elections last month. On Wednesday, UNC Political Leader Winston Dookeran called a meeting at his Trincity home to put an end to the public bickering.

Bissoon said supporters in Canada had been following the statements made by Panday and other MPs and senators following the elections. He noted that columnists, editorials and letters to the editor continued to keep the issue on the front pages where the issue belonged. However, Bissoon said the issue had reached local/ethnic newspapers in New York, Toronto and London. “The daily rhetoric is now seriously hurting our Party, a Party that you nurtured and built with your own sweat and blood. This party was just a continuation of your service to the peoples of TT, something that you have given over 45 years of unquestionable loyalty and devotion.” Bissoon described Panday as the last of an era of Caribbean politics. He said it was for supporters to ensure that his place was indelibly written in TT’s political history as an astute, charismatic politician, known for his struggles for the working class, freedom and justice and one who embraced all people.

Bissoon said it was for the UNC to protect Panday’s legacy, the most important being the UNC’s win in 1995 which made him the first Trinidadian of East Indian descent to be elected Prime Minister. “The accomplishments of your administration between 1995-2001 will go down in history as being the most progressive that TT has ever experienced in its post independence era.” Bissoon said against this background the Friends were writing Panday on the current leadership crisis which has taken centre stage in the party.

Bissoon said: “By allowing this position to escalate any further, we can be assured of the tremendous hurt to your chosen successor, our Party’s members and supporters and indeed the peoples of TT who are now relying on the new Political Leader for the opportunity for the UNC to transform itself and create a new sound and viable alternative to the current administration.” He said in the court of public opinion the UNC was now seen as being unable to manage its own affairs as a political party and could not be trusted with the reins of government. Bissoon said as Panday’s loyal and sincere friends and supporters in Canada who cherished their relationship with him, they were asking him not to let the current impasse continue. He said only Panday had the political skills to end the bigger co nflicts in the party.