UNC condemns attack on Panday by PNM women

THE United National Congress (UNC) has condemned statements by the women’s arm of the ruling PNM Government that Oppo-sition leader, Basdeo Panday, was “obstructionist and outdated” in his approach to dealing with the serious issues currently facing our society. In a statement yesterday, the Opposition party also sought to “set the records straight” concerning statements attributed to its political leader at a public meeting, where Panday allegedly declared that he could not understand how the ruling party could spend money on alleged UNC corruption, but was unable to recover $40 million paid to kidnappers.

“Mr Panday said it was strange that the authorities did not use the available technology to track down the ransom money after it was delivered to the kidnappers,” the UNC release stated. “Mr Panday said it was curious that not a cent of ransom money was recovered and questioned whether the PNM and others may be benefiting from this dastardly act against innocent people.” The UNC said, “Corruption under the UNC are just allegations, but corruption under the PNM has been proven,” citing former PNM government minister, John O’Halloran, as the most prominent example. In a statement last week, the PNM’s Women’s League observed that the Opposition leader did not “appreciate the relationship between white collar and other crimes and the breakdown in society that have resulted from his party’s plundering of the Treasury.”