Panday’s many political fallouts

THE POLITICAL career of Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday has been filled with drama and controversy. In the four decades he has been in politics, the United National Congress (UNC) leader has been involved in four political parties and numerous bitter public fallouts. Beginning with his first foray into politics as an unsuccessful candidate for the Workers and Farmers’ Party in 1966, Panday’s political resume includes an interrupted stint as leader of the United Labour Front (ULF), expulsion from the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) in 1986 and the electoral victories, defeats and internal rifts of the 17-year-old UNC. Along the way he has parted company with several persons, including close personal friends and political allies. Opposition MPs Gillian Lucky (Pointe-a-Pierre) and Fuad Khan (San Juan/Barataria), who last week announced that they have become Independents in the House of Representatives,  are just the latest associates to part ways with the veteran politician. Here are some of the others:

RAFFIQUE SHAH — As a Lieutenant in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, Shah first gained national attention in 1970 joined with fellow officer Rex Lassalle to lead an army mutiny. The mutineers surrendered after five days and Shah and Lassalle were court-martialed and jailed. After being released from prison, Shah become involved in the trade union movement and entered into an alliance with fellow trade unionists George Weekes, Joe Young and Panday which led to the formation of the ULF — an alternative to the then politically dominant People’s National Movement (PNM). In 1976, the ULF became the official opposition. However, within months, major rifts emerged in the new political entity. Shah and five other ULF Members of Parliament had Panday’s appointment as Leader of the Opposition revoked and Shah took over the position.

However, Panday was back at the helm the following years after Winston Nanan, one of the Opposition MPs who had initially supported Shah defected and joined forces with the Panday faction. Shah resigned and Panday was again appointed Opposition Leader. Shah went on to lead the Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers’ Association (TICFA) and become involved in journalism as an editor of the TnT Mirror. As a newspaper columnist and political commentator, Shah remains one of Panday’s most outspoken critics.

ARTHUR NR ROBINSON — A founding member of the PNM, Robinson quit the Government of Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams in April 1970 at the height of the Black Power uprising. He later founded the Tobago-based Democratic Action Congress (DAC) and became involved in lobbying for internal self government for the island which led to the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Act of 1980. Robinson became chairman of the THA when the DAC won the first THA election in 1980. He joined forces with Panday in 1985 when the Organisation for National Reconstruction, led by Karl Hudson-Phillips, the ULF and the DAC were merged to form the NAR. Panday and Hudson-Phillips stepped aside and allowed Robinson to lead the new political entity.

The NAR scored an unprecedented 33-3 victory over the PNM in the elections of December 1986. The first break-up of the Robinson-Panday alliance occurred in 1988. Panday, along with colleagues Kelvin Ramnath, Trevor Sudama and John Humphrey were expelled from the NAR. Within a short time, the UNC was formed and soon after that, it became the official opposition party, with Panday once again taking on the role of Opposition Leader in 1990. The NAR suffered a massive defeat in the elections of 1991 — Manning and the PNM returned to power and the UNC formed the opposition. For a while Robinson and what was left of the NAR remained in political obscurity. However, he moved to the centre stage of national politics  following the snap polls of 1995 when a result of 17-17-2 put him and his party in the powerful position of tie-breaker. Robinson and his NAR colleague Pamela Nicholson — who held the two Tobago seats won by the NAR were suddenly being courted by the PNM and the UNC.

Robinson and Panday buried their differences and formed a coalition government. Robinson was appointed Minister Extraordinaire with special responsibility for Tobago. However, he didn’t hold the post for long. By 1997 he had been elevated to the position of President. Once again, a rift began to develop in the Panday-Robinson relationship. Following the UNC election victory, Panday attempted to put seven losing UNC candidates into ministerial positions via Senate appointments. Robinson refused to make the appointments and a bitter impasse developed which dragged on for 55 tense days before the President relented and sent a brief letter to Panday in which he agreed to appoint the losing candidates.

There was no chance of reconciliation after that. When corruption allegations and a major rift within the UNC forced a return to the polls, the 18-18 tie thrust Robinson into the role of kingmaker once again. The second time around, he handed the reins of power to Patrick Manning, sending Panday and his UNC team back to the Opposition benches.

HULSIE BHAGGAN — The former Mastana Bahar Queen gained national attention as a community activist long before she ventured into politics, leading protests by Guayamare residents who were resisting relocation to make way for the widening of the Uriah Butler Highway. She became a political protege of Panday who introduced her to politics. In the elections of 1991, she was selected as the UNC candidate for Chaguanas, going up against Winston Dookeran — a former Panday colleague who remained in the NAR after Panday and the remnants of his ULF faction were expelled from the party. Bhaggan won the seat.

The Panday-Bhaggan fallout occurred just a few years later. She had already been generating controversy, her activist spirit prompting her to make claims and public declarations and drew great criticisms. Eventually, Panday would publicly label her a “loose cannon”. The break up came following Bhaggan’s decision to break ranks with the UNC and support an amendment to the Corporal Punishment Act. Her refusal to toe the party line brought quick action.  Within a few days, Bhaggan was isolated from all UNC activities and the party declared that she no longer represented the views of the UNC. She soon parted company with the UNC and was replaced on the Opposition benches by another young female Panday protege, Indera Sagewan. Bhaggan tried to revive her political fortunes, forming her own party — the Movement for Unity and Progress (MUP). However, the party failed to win a single seat in the only election it contested in 1995.

RAMESH LAWRENCE MAHARAJ — Once a close confidante of Panday, Maharaj was already a prominent human rights activist and successful attorney-at-law when the UNC leader persuaded him to enter into politics in 1996. Maharaj was asked to run for Couva South, the seat held by Kelvin Ramnath who had fallen out of favour with Panday. After easily winning the seat, Maharaj joined the Parliament as Opposition Chief Whip in what would be a decade-long political affiliation with Panday and the UNC.

In 1995 when the UNC emerged victorious in what was initially a deadlocked election, Maharaj became Leader of Government Business. Within months he took his place in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Basdeo Panday as Attorney General. The first signs of friction appeared following the Deyalsingh Commission of Inquiry into the award of contracts for the airport project. According to party insiders, the tension between Maharaj and Panday was so great that Maharaj seriously considered bowing out of politics and not running for office in the 2000 elections.

He eventually decided to contest the polls and following the party’s victory, he was handed the portfolio of AG and Minister of Legal Affairs. By that time, however, the end was near. Maharaj and two other Government Ministers — Ralph Maraj and Trevor Sudama — began pressing the Panday Administration to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into alleged corruption in government. Panday eventually fired Maharaj, then Sudama and Maraj resigned. This led to a political crisis which sent the country back to the polls and the historic election deadlock that followed ended with Patrick Manning and the PNM being returned to government.

BREAK UP AND MAKE UP — While Panday has never reconciled with some of his former colleagues, there are others, including several he had labelled as “neemakharams”, with whom he now enjoys a close political relationship. They include Winston Dookeran, who was appointed Central Bank Governor during Panday’s tenure as Prime Minister and is currently UNC’s St Augustine MP and Kelvin Ramnath who was discarded, then returned as Couva South MP.