UNC in NY divided on leadership issue
ACCORDING TO a survey conducted in New York over the last several days, UNC supporters feel Basdeo Panday should honour any agreement he made with St Augustine MP Winston Dookeran for leadership of the party. Those interviewed also strongly support Panday’s reconciliation with Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and feel they should end their feud and work together to strengthen the party as it prepares for general elections. NACTA has been interviewing Trinidad and Tobago nationals in NY about recent developments in the UNC. The ongoing survey is being conducted by pollster Vishnu Bisram. The findings show that UNC supporters are divided over whether Panday should have yielded the leadership of the party to Dookeran. However, they say they are willing to accept Panday’s agreement to make Dookeran the leader of the party. They also say that if Panday made an agreement with Dookeran and financier Jack Warner to hand over Opposition leadership, he should honour it, especially if Dookeran has a majority of opposition MPs backing him. Although support is strong for the unity measures undertaken by Panday, anti-Panday feelings still run high among UNC followers because of issues that led to the collapse of the UNC government in 2001. Supporters feel the party should be purged and Panday should consider stepping down after uniting the opposition to give it a fresh look to make it attractive to the electorate. Although Dookeran is the new leader of the party, UNC followers still view Panday as "the boss" and don’t feel he will relinquish control. Asked if they feel Panday should yield the title of Leader of Opposition to Dookeran, respondents are divided but a majority feel the title should come with being the leader of the party otherwise party leadership is meaningless. Nearly half of those interviewed say Panday should hold on to the title until Dookeran becomes a strong leader who can do battle with the PNM. They are worried that Dookeran will cave in to PNM demands on several bills. Some UNC supporters also believe that since Dookeran lost the election for control over the party’s executives, he does not have much support within the party. However, they say Panday should not stand in the way of Dookeran getting the title of Leader of the Opposition if he has support among the MPs. They feel the party should put the issue of parliamentary leadership for a vote before the MPs to determine who has the required support for the position.
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"UNC in NY divided on leadership issue"