Panday ignores Jack

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday was unperturbed by media reports where UNC deputy leader Jack Warner said Panday would be replaced by party political leader in 30 to 60 days time. Warner reportedly made those comments during a walkabout with Dookeran in Chaguanas on Saturday. Contacted in Tobago yesterday, Panday said he was unaware of Warner’s comments and had nothing to say on the matter. Following a high-powered UNC “summit” at Dookeran’s Trincity home last Wednesday, Panday reiterated that he was not resigning as Opposition Leader. Warner was one of the participants (which also included Panday, Dookeran, Wade Mark and Kamla Persad-Bissessar) in that “summit” and all participants took a vow of silence about what transpired in the meeting and not to ventilate the party’s leadership issues in public. During Saturday’s walkabout, Dookeran said he was not lobbying UNC MPs to sign a letter to President George Maxwell Richards indicating that they had withdrawn their support for Panday and were giving it to him (Dookeran). 

Panday can only be removed as Opposition Leader in accordance with Section 83 (4) of the Constitution which states: “Where in the judgment of the President, the Leader of the Opposition is no longer the member of the House of Representatives best able to command the support of a majority of those members of the House of Representatives who do not support the Government, the President shall revoke the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition.” To date, Ganga Singh, Gerald Yetming, Manohar Ramsaran and Gillian Lucky are the only Lower House UNC MPs supporting Dookeran to replace Panday as Opposition Leader.

Former UNC attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the Opposition Leader post was a political and a constitutional matter. Maharaj said Dookeran and his followers do not have a case in either arena to justify why Panday should be removed as Opposition Leader. Meanwhile, UNC supporters in New York have countered calls by the Friends of the UNC Canada for Panday to make way for Dookeran to replace him. UNC officials in New York yesterday said party supporters there are very upset about attempts to remove Panday as Opposition Leader and believe he remains the best person to unite the party and opposition forces against the ruling PNM. They said UNC supporters in New York want Panday, Maharaj and Dookeran to work together to reach a leadership accommodation to work together for the good of the party and the country.