NACTA: Panday’s arrest will not hurt PNM
THE ARREST of Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday on corruption charges will not affect the re-election chances of the PNM in the next general elections but could prevent the UNC from returning to power. The only threat to the PNM’s hold on political power is the emergence of a credible and viable third force which could attract several traditional PNM and UNC supporters to its fold. These were some of the findings contained in the second part of a North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) survey on Panday’s arrest, which was released on Wednesday. The survey was based on interviews over the last week with 231 respondents of different ethnicities. Panday was arrested on May 31 and was incarcerated at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca after refusing bail when he appeared in court on the same day. The UNC leader refused bail again when he returned to court on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, he agreed to take bail after he was visited at the prison by a delegation from the Inter-Religious Organisation. Panday is due to reappear in court on June 17. According to the second part of the NACTA survey, there is overwhelming support for reconciliation in the UNC, but many Indo-Trinidadians are demanding that there must be reform as well or the party will deteriorate even further. These respondents believe that such reforms should include the resignation of Panday as UNC leader and the purging of corrupt elements and weak MPs from the party. They said Panday’s strategy to refuse bail was a ploy to play on "the gullibility of the masses of UNC supporters to sympathise with him" and that instead of helping him, his arrest will drive people away from the party and there is the possibility of more corruption charges being laid against other ex-UNC ministers, including some who are already before the court.
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"NACTA: Panday’s arrest will not hurt PNM"