ROY RESIGNS
The latest body-blow in the continuing internecine warfare in the UNC was the resignation of Roy Augustus as a senator yesterday. In his letter to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, Augustus said he was "repulsed by the viciousness emanating with certain members of the national executive of the UNC over the last three days in particular, and by the orchestrated nastiness currently dominating certain radio programmes." Augustus did not name the executive members. Sources stated, however, that it was highly unlikely that he was referring to Political Leader Winston Dookeran who has been completely marginalised by the executive. Sources also stated that a network of callers for the radio talkshows were summoned to Rienzi Complex last Saturday and told to go on the attack against Dookeran and his supporters. Augustus prefaced his resignation with the following extract from the UNC’s constitution: "Item seven of the Aims and Objects defined in the UNC Constitution affirms a commitment to struggle against any tendency towards authoritarianism, autocracy and dictatorship and to promote a viable diffusion of centres of power and decision-making as a check against the concentration and abuse of power." Augustus said he remained a member of the UNC, committed to working for the restoration of respect for the party’s Constitution, ideals and principles, and for the recognition of the party’s obligations to its members and constituents; and to the nation — particularly the young in the nation, "to whose development I have dedicated most of my adult life, and for whom it is critical that politicians conduct themselves as exemplars." Commenting on the resignation, Opposition Leader Panday, who clashed with Augustus at a reconciliation meeting late last year, said he respected Augustus’ views. "Politics has never been a game for the soft-hearted," Panday said, adding that he would have to find a replacement for Augustus in the Senate. "If I get any more resignations I will respect their views and accept the resignations," the UNC Chairman added matter-of-factly. However, Political Leader Winston Dookeran said Augustus’ resignation was "unfortunate." Deputy Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that if resigning as a senator made Augustus happy, then she was happy for him. "For every one of us there are hundreds who are willing to come forward to serve," she said.
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"ROY RESIGNS"