The ‘conning’ fox

According to the Basdeo Panday “logic”, everything else “pales into insignificance” where “constitutional reform” is concerned. One fellow suggested to Panday that should the kidnapping scourge get completely out of control and the criminals and gang leaders (pardon me, community leaders) succeed in throwing our society into an unbelievable tailspin, then it’s just conceivable that we may not even have a constitution to reform.

Of course we know that this is just another stumbling block being thrown up by Mr Political Obstructionist Extraordinaire. As I suggested in an earlier article: Panday was created as a political pawn of Dr Eric Williams’ choosing. That notion has since been publicly amplified by Ferdie Ferreira, to wit, “Dr Williams read Basdeo Panday well, understood him, and played on his ego and ambition. Like Cassius, he was a very ambitious man, and Williams was quite happy, recognising his limitations, to accommodate his limited attributes, once he was able to confine him to the sugar belt.” (Newsday April 11, 2003). In short, Panday knew how to get what he wanted, as he made his meteoric rise as “PNM’s pampered political pet.”

As Ferdie saw it, “The flamboyant leader had more bark than bite and the party never considered him a serious political threat,” as long as the sugar workers got what they assumed was, and what he Panday convinced them was, their share of the cake. With the demise of the sugar industry, it’s akin to Panday’s horse being shot from under him — well, almost. Panday has always been able to gather an essentially ethnic crowd around him and call it “a political party” by one name or another. It’s been said that his bark is worse than his bite but the political reality is that, in politics, a dog doesn’t need more than a bark once it controls the blind, bovine loyalty of a number of hush puppies who are strategically placed to make all the difference.

Panday’s big son and dance re: “constitution reform now, if not yesterday” fools no one but the politically naive and incurable sycophants. “Smoke and mirrors,” that’s the man’s style. Whenever he chooses to disregard any constitutional constraints in any grouping that he’s associated with, he simply tells them to, “Go to hell, as a constitution is just a piece of paper and constitutions don’t make organisations, leaders do.”

Now ask yourself this question: “If the leader of the Opposition hopes to use the escalating crime wave as a winning electoral issue, do you expect him to assist in curbing it, even when his traditional supporters are among those bawling for relief?” Basdeo Panday has created the impression, (nay, illusion) that Indo-Trinidadians have one and only one champion and spokesperson and he goes by the name of Basdeo Panday. It also suits Mr Panday to promote the view that those who object to and/or are critical of his thoughtless and irresponsible brinkmanship style owe their reservations to the fact that he is of Indian origin and Hindu persuasion. Some of the most scathing criticisms that I’ve read re Panday’s political style and machinations have been written by those whose bona fides re their religion and heritage cannot be questioned.

But what about Mr Panday’s own political style? Perhaps we could go down memory lane a bit and let the younger Panday speak for himself, as he so glibly does. In an interview given to a local journalist, Mr Panday gave valuable insights as to his modus operandi and why he is considered an astute politician, a consummate actor and a man we see of many faces and possibly personalities. Harking to an earlier period of Panday’s political career, the journalist recalled how Panday described with relish just how he had taken over the leadership of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union.

According to the interview: “... When faced with the incursions of the then militant Raffique Shah, the old guard running the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and General Workers Trade Union was looking for a personality who would serve as a figurehead president. In a move that they rue to this day they settled on Panday, a lawyer, an economist and an Indian with a long history of opposition to the PNM.”

Said Panday in the interview: “When Rampartapsingh came to my house to tell me that they wanted me for President-General, I played him a game that he’ll never forget. I became the reluctant bride. The more he offered me the ring the more I refused it. He left, a disconsolate man. And I told my brother, with whom I am very close, that I’m going to make minced meat out of ‘Rampartap’, that I was going to have him crawling on his knees, begging me to become president.” Rampartapsingh returned, making all the appeals to race. According to Panday’s wish, Rampartapsingh had Panday elected as President-General. In the months that followed, a “grateful” Panday found out where the union’s far-flung branches were and he set up parallel organisations that were “real” compared to Rampartapsingh’s “stooge” ones. When the confrontation came, Panday reminded Rampartapsingh that “the constitution did not make leaders, people did”. Exit Rampartapsingh. Having got control of the union, Panday got word that Dr Williams was pleased that the Indians now had their own George Weekes.

The reluctant bride, being no political virgin, sent word to George Weekes that he would fake a public war between himself and Weekes, thereby playing Dr Williams for “a sucker”. One calypsonian devoted an entire calypso to listing all the organisations that Panday has “mashed up” when he can’t have his way. He was named “The Mash Up Man.” He prides himself in being called the “Silver Fox”, in which case we should be prepared to continue singing “No, No Mr Fox / Doh Mash Up We Music Box”.