Unc election test

Central to this judgement will be the role of UNC leader and former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday. It now seems a given that Mr Panday will be stepping down as the party’s political leader. But that is one chicken that cannot be counted before it is hatched. Mr Panday may well have every intention of stepping aside at this point, but giving up power is never easy, especially for Caribbean politicians. So the possibility that he will change his mind will be open until the last moment.

Should that happen at this stage, however, it will be a great blow to the UNC. This is not only because it appears that the party cannot win a general election with Mr Panday at the helm. It will be because, if that occurs, the UNC front-line members will be made to look like fools, and none of them will have any credibility as a national leader thereafter.

At the same time, unless these same members handle their disagreements in a mature fashion, they could well win the political party battle at the cost of the general election war. Two different views have been articulated by St. Joseph MP Gerald Yetming and Siparia MP Kamla Persad Bissessar. According to Ms Persad Bissessar, "I do not share the view of a small clique that has been pressuring Mr Panday that it is in the party’s best interest that he anoint a leader and leave; the party is not a dynasty."

This statement seems at odds with reality on two counts. First of all, there is little or no chance that Mr Panday will leave, even if he steps aside as political leader. His guidance and wide experience will surely be necessary for the UNC under any new leadership. Second, the party is, in fact, a dynasty, just as the PNM was under Dr. Eric Williams. It was only Dr Williams’ death that forced the PNM to choose a new leader by other means. The fact is, if Mr Panday anoints one persons and rejects others, then the UNC rank-and-file will elect Mr Panday’s choice. That influence the Silver Fox still wields.

Mr Yetming takes a different tack. He holds that "If fundamental changes are not made to the UNC now — and when I say now, the latest time frame is the party’s October 2 election — then the party will not be able to do the things required to be attractive to the national population and replace the PNM." Yetming also approves of the anointing of Winston Dookeran to succeed Panday.

Such an appointment would certainly be a fundamental change. Mr Dookeran is a great contrast to Mr Panday, lacking as he does the fiery charisma that has brought Mr Panday so far. But Mr Dookeran is also perceived as a person of integrity, and the spectre of corruption is what haunts the UNC now. That being so, the "fundamental changes" must include convincing the electorate that a revamped UNC would be more transparent and more competent than the Patrick Manning-led PNM.

Exactly how the UNC will accomplish all this before October 2 will make interesting viewing.