Panday quiet on NACTA, but response predictable

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday was silent yesterday about Monday’s NACTA exit poll which described him as being the biggest asset to the People’s National Movement’s (PNM).  However party insiders said given Panday’s track record of outright disregard for the findings of NACTA’s polls, the United National Con-gress (UNC) Leader will dismiss Monday’s poll outright and say that it will not influence his timetable for remaining at the helm of the party, or in active politics. Panday has repeatedly expressed his desire to resign as UNC leader but has insisted that he will not abandon the party in mid-stream and leave it vulnerable to political predators. When Newsday contacted UNC headquarters at Rienzi Complex in Couva, party officials said they were unaware of Panday’s daily schedule and that schedule was determined by staff at the Leader of the Oppo-sition’s office in Port-of-Spain.

Calls to that office revealed that Panday would not be in office for the day and several reporters had been calling repeatedly trying to get a comment from the UNC leader about Monday’s poll. However UNC sources claimed while Panday may be disturbed about the poll’s contents, he will never admit to being the Opposition’s “biggest liability” or the PNM’s “biggest asset” to remaining in government. The sources said Panday remains firmly entrenched as UNC leader and only he will decide when it is time to leave. The poll said allegations of corruption continue to haunt the UNC and the Opposition’s strategy of non-cooperation with the Govern-ment was not bearing fruit. Monday’s poll reinforced the findings of previous NACTA polls which said Panday and other UNC parliamentarians who are perceived to be corrupt must leave the party if the UNC is to have a fighting chance to regain the government. When contacted yesterday, UNC chairman Wade Mark said he had not studied the poll in detail and preferred not to comment until he did. Former government minister Trevor Sudama predicted that Monday’s poll, just like St Joseph MP Gerald Yetming’s public challenge last week for Panday to resign, will not bother the UNC leader in any way. Similar to Yetming’s challenge (in an exclusive Newsday story), Opposition MPs have again expressed differing views on the poll but none have supported its findings.