Panday refuses to debate party matters in public

Basdeo Panday is not taking the bait to go after his "recalcitrant' MPs Jack Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who held a community forum Thursday night in Maharaj's Tabaquite constituency to update the people on developments within the United National Congress (UNC) and warn of the threat of an impending dictatorship in the new draft constitution.

While Warner is sticking to his pitch for a reorganized party that must broaden its national appeal and unite all opposition forces Maharaj is more direct in seeking to confront the leader.

"I am not leaving the UNC. Nobody is going to run me out. No caucus got me in Parliament. It was you the people," Maharaj told the gathering. "The leader of the party can fire the Chief Whip, but only the people can get me out of Parliament. The UNC does not belong to anybody. It belongs to the members and owned by them, and it is not sufficient for anyone to say it is 'my party'."

Maharaj said his "mission is to help the UNC to win the next election and get into government".

The Trinidad Express asked Panday for a reaction to Maharaj's rantings. "If that is his opinion I have no problem with that, but what I am certain about is that I am not going into a battle in public anymore. All such matters will be discussed at the level of the executive. The caucus will deal with all such matters," Panday told the paper.

Maharaj and Warner also burned their copies of the draft constitution document laid in Parliament on January 9th for public consultation. The symbolic protest against what Maharaj calls a blueprint for a presidential dictatorship brought a tongue-in-cheek reaction from Panday."

I intend to keep my copy, read it carefully and use it to educate the electorate over the next four months about the plan by Manning to set up a dictatorship in Trinidad and Tobago," he told the Express.

Columnist Dana Seetahal, writing in the Sunday Guardian on Jan. 18 said: "For the last month or so, there were rumblings within the UNC-A, but what has emerged in the two weeks is a clear division between Basdeo Panday, on the one hand, and his chief whip, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, and Jack Warner (long known as “UNC financier”), on the other."

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And Opposition Senator M.F. Rahman had this to say about his colleagues:

"Our colleagues Ramesh L. Maharaj and Jack A. Warner are treading a similar path to Winston Dookeran who walked the countryside cloaked as a loyal UNC leader. But it is clear that the inevitable divergence will come when attempts will be made to create a party which the duo might imagine will gain popular support of the masses as well as a mass exodus of senior UNC-A and COP members.

"The UNC-A does not wish to lose any of its capable members, but the reality is that it were best for fledglings to flee the nest for their own rather than stir dissent in the Party. I believe that the door has always been open for new arrivals as much as for departees so inclined.

"As long as the duo remains in the membership, those loyal to Panday will close ranks and solidify their position. The hostile barbs being fired only serve to diminish the duo’s credibility for their own earlier defections remain fresh in the minds of all. What the duo is operating right now under the pretence of membership is a parallel political ideology in which the Leader of the UNC-A is constantly under siege.

"Panday’s acumen and refusal to be drawn into public discussion of a private matter despite the duo’s fullest efforts, is testimony to his aplomb and leadership qualities. Despite his excellent qualities, RLM remains suspect in the hearts of many and now his campaign has justified those suspicions.

"One wonders whether RLM should be wooed back to loyalty, since his record there is now discredited. While he may now proclaim that he does not intend to leave graciously, one wonders how much elasticity may be expected from his political bungee device.

"JAW may even now be reconsidering his allegiance to RLM’s vision. It is taking him a little longer than the last time to come to his senses, but he will. His membership in the UNC has had its moments of satisfaction which money cannot buy. Basdeo Pandays’ capacity for reconciliation is legendary. He forgives quickly for the greater good. He will soon have to decide which way the greater good will be served. Those who follow him politically, have confidence in his acumen."