Dookeran throws down gauntlet

The outcome will be crucial if the party is to clear up the division which has crippled it and to present a viable alternative to the ruling PNM as the country heads towards a general election due by next year. It’s make or break for the UNC.

In his 15 demands, Dookeran has made a clear move to assert his authority in the party in the face of the looming presence of former chairman Basdeo Panday, a shared leadership with Persad-Bissessar, and repeated sniping by the pro-Panday National Executive.

Biting the bullet, Dookeran called for a single leader for the party, saying the people will not buy any charade of temporary unity.

He said: “Profound change will therefore be required in the current arrangements in the party.”

Dookeran has made a clear call to Persad-Bissessar for the party to unambiguously recognise him as leader. He wants her to agree that the political leader must determine the party’s direction, to end the party’s multiple leadership, to accept Panday’s resignation as chairman, and to withdraw the Executive’s no-confidence motion against him.

In the light that many of these changes would likely come at Persad-Bissessar’s expense, it is a moment of history for the UNC.

As to the party’s bodies, Dookeran wants the reinstatement of four former UNC Senators (including Robin Montano and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan), restoration of the former National Executive (including Gary Griffith and Sadiq Baksh), the political leader’s control of the UNC’s screening committee, and new elections for constituency committees.

These requests amount to an ultimatum by Dookeran, made against the background of speculation that he might form a new political party. Although Dookeran downplayed this possibility on Friday, many observers are speculating that unless he gets his way, Dookeran will move to form a new party. Indeed he would have no other option.

There is a perception that Dookeran is gaining support and this surely brings no comfort to the Panday group.

Tomorrow’s meeting will be crucial and we would not like to hazard a guess as to how this episode will play out.

The Executive can accept the proposals and cede power to Dookeran, can outright reject them and let the divided UNC bandwagon trundle on, or can simply avoid the question and play for time by saying it needs to consult the party’s national congress.

Much will depend on Basdeo Panday, considered by many to still be the power behind the throne in the UNC. Two Saturdays ago at a UNC rally at Rienzi Complex, Panday blew hot and cold towards Dookeran by initially chastising him repeatedly and then theatrically stepping in, like Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar to beg the crowd not to damn Dookeran. It was an odd performance that only served to further confuse the minds of the public as to Panday’s true intent towards Dookeran.

Whose purpose is served by having all this muddle in the country’s main Opposition party? Certainly not the public’s interest.

We would like to see a strong, united opposition party to call to account the PNM Government. Whether this is achieved by Panday, Persad-Bissessar and the National Executive accepting Dookeran’s list of proposals, or by Dookeran building his own party, remains to be seen. For now, Dookeran has thrown down the gauntlet in a move which we hope will be just as unambiguously answered, and which will point the way forward for the UNC.