Panday: NACTA polls funded by PNM

OPPOSITION leader Basdeo Panday yesterday declared that polls published by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) were fraudulent and believed they were funded by the ruling PNM. A poll released this week by NACTA said UNC supporters wanted former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj to return to the party and were dissatisfied with Panday remaining as UNC leader, and felt UNC MPs were totally alienated from their supporters. “Totally without credibility (the findings of NACTA polls). We (UNC) have always known it,” Panday told Newsday.

The UNC leader claimed NACTA polls were highly questionable and there was no indication about who was financing them. Asked whether he thought the PNM was financing the NACTA polls, Panday said the UNC always believed this was a distinct possibility and the NACTA polls display a similar bias against the government of Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo. Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley (who is also a PNM deputy political leader) said the PNM does not comment on the internal affairs of other parties and this week’s NACTA polls focussed on the UNC.