Confident Kamla says

“GOD does not give you anything you cannot handle,” so said newly appointed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, hours be-fore she received her instrument of appointment in Par-liament yesterday.

Persad-Bissessar said she viewed the appointment as her ‘Karma’ (Hindu term for destiny). “I am willing and prepared to serve in the best interest of the country,” Persad-Bissessar said as she spoke to Newsday yesterday at her Siparia constituency office before heading to Parliament.

Persad-Bissessar saw her appointment as one aimed at mobilising and solidifying the party to face all challenges.

History was created on Tuesday when Persad-Bissessar became the country’s first female Opposition Leader, following President Maxwell Richards’ dismissal of Basdeo Panday from the post.

Panday was sent to jail on Monday after he was found guilty of failing to declare a London bank account when he was Prime Minister. Persad-Bissessar was a former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and has also acted as Prime Minister under the United National Congress (UNC) Government.

Persad-Bissessar said that she had extended invitations to independent UNC MPs’ Gillian Lucky, Fuad Khan and Gerald Yetming, informing them that she was open to all suggestions to cement the division within the party. She said similar sentiments were also echoed to Political Leader Winston Dookeran. However, Persad-Bissessar said she was unable to contact Chief Whip Ganga Singh and Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran, but promised to continue to try to make contact with both men.

Overwhelmed by the support she has received, Persad-Bissessar admitted that she always hoped to become a leader, but added that although Basdeo Panday remains incarcerated, she still regards him as her leader.

Admitting that her appointment came at a time where the UNC is facing a major crisis and challenges, Persad-Bissessar has vowed to cement the division within the party.

“There is never a challenge that cannot be overcome, but I am willing and ready to serve to achieve a prosperous nation,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar who has been unable to visit the former Opposition Leader because only two visitors were allowed at the Maximum Security Prisons, said she was told by Panday’s wife Oma that he was in good spirits.

Condemning the postponement of Panday’s bail hearing, Persad-Bissessar said it was unfair to begin serving a sentence before an Appeal was heard.