NACTA: Dookeran is afraid of Panday

In an interview from his New York home yesterday, North American Caribbean Teachers’ Association (NACTA) pollster and political analyst Vishnu Bisram said NACTA has been closely following events leading up to the party’s October 2 national executive elections, and despite Dookeran’s public statements that he would fear no one in discharging his duties as UNC political leader, there is concern among party supporters that the manner in which Dookeran accepted Panday’s terms of leadership (Dookeran as political leader and Panday as chairman) indicates that the St Augustine MP "does not wish to stand up to Panday."

Bisram said unless Dookeran can show that he can stand up to Panday’s "bullying tactics," the lower-rung UNC MPs will also be afraid to confront Panday and this does not augur well for the party’s future. "If Dookeran does not stand up and deliver to his faithful supporters, which at this time appear to outnumber Panday’s, and take the challenge to Panday to clean up the party, then his political future will be short-lived. Members will not vote or cast their ballots for Panday’s slate for the executive posts." Bisram said Dookeran must indicate which of the two slates contesting the elections will best implement his vision to take the UNC back into government, and clearly indicate what that vision is.

The NACTA pollster also said serious questions linger about Dookeran’s effectiveness as UNC leader and the facts show that since Dookeran was brought into the party in 2002 to clean up its image, "the UNC has not scored any victories or made any gains in three elections" due to Dookeran’s presence in the party.

While Dookeran is not responsible for the UNC’s declining political fortunes, Bisram said information which NACTA continues to gather indicates that the Panday-Dookeran combination is not working for the UNC’s benefit and "the party needs total revamping if Dookeran will make any difference in a general election." He added that it was troubling that no "fresh faces" have emerged to contest the party’s executive positions and this will only weaken the UNC further and the crucial block of floating voters within the electorate will not see the UNC as a viable alternative to the PNM.

Bisram said NACTA’s data suggests that the ongoing rivalry between the UNC Progressives and Panday’s slate will further weaken the party and it is evident that the UNC "will not come out unscathed" after October 2. On Monday, Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath attacked St Joseph MP Gerald Yetming for publicly criticising Panday, and Panday himself noted that no one in the UNC Progressives slate has a history of struggle.

There are also deep divisions among UNC supporters over the leadership arrangement struck between Panday and Dookeran and former attorney-general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has pulled many disenchanted UNC supporters into his new ACT TT movement.