UNC’s Dookeran hailed as next PM

POLITICAL LEADER of  the United National Congress (UNC)Winston Dookeran got an enthusiastic response to his walkabout in the Chaguanas constituency yesterday. In rainy weather Dookeran went into business places and residences throughout the constituency. His arrival was heralded with the announcement “the next Prime Minister is coming to greet you.” The UNC leader was accompanied by several prominent members of the party, including Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran and Opposition Senator Robin Montano.

Party insiders told Sunday Newsday that at a closed- door meeting prior to the walkabout, several UNC supporters expressed the view that Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday should be thanked for the role he played in  helping to stabilise the UNC. However, according to one insider, it was felt that the time had come for Panday to “gradually back out and hand over the reins of the party to the person that he has anointed”. “If not, the UNC will forever be in Opposition,” the UNC source said. “If Panday did not want him  (Dookeran) to take centre stage, he could have allowed him to be involved with the university abroad  and forget about the politics in Trinidad and Tobago.”