Warner accuses Panday of spite

Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner told the Trinidad Express Saturday Basdeo Panday's move to remove Dr Carson Charles from the Senate and appoint Congress of the People (COP) member Dr Sharon Gopaul McNicol as an Opposition Senator was an act of spite.

"I think it is a foolish move he has made and it is yet another step in his effort to spite me," the UNC deputy leader told the paper.

Panday presented McNicol to the media on Friday. The former deputy political leader of COP is scheduled to take the oath of office at Tuesday's sitting of the Senate. She has said she remains a member of COP although the party has relieved her of her leadership role. She says she will be an opposition senator, not a member of the UNC.

Panday had appointed Charles a senator on the advice of Warner, who had also recommended that the former cabinet minister in the NAR administration be made leader of opposition business in the Senate. But Panday objected and the party agreed to leave Wade Mark in that role. Charles ran as a member of the UNC Alliance in the St Joseph constituency in the 2007 general election and Mark was the UNC-A candidate in Pointe-a-Pierre. The PNM won both seats.

Speaking to the Express in a telephone interview from the United States Warner said, "There is no way Dr McNicol can be a worthwhile exchange for Dr Carson Charles. He's the leader of the NAR, Dr McNicol's in not the leader of the COP, she has been expelled from the COP, she brings nothing to the UNC."

But opposition Senator M.F. Rahman disagrees with Warner and calls the move "vintage Panday." He said it is an extension of Panday's "policy of inclusion manifested when he won the 1995 elections and invited all to join him to work in the interest of the people".

By comparison, he said the COP leader demonstrated his policy of exclusion by firing McNichol as deputy leader of COP. He said Winston Dookeran's move "defines his obduracy and lack of interest in the national good".

"Dr Sharon Gopaul-McNicol displays more political wisdom than her leader and has demonstrated her courage. It is now plain who really is supporting the continued PNM hegemony by fragmenting opposition forces," Rahman said.

When Panday formally announced the change he said he appointed McNicol because she is "a people's person" and her inclusion among the six opposition senators is another attempt at opposition unity.

For his part, Charles is not bitter or angry. He has thanked Panday for giving him the opportunity to serve and also thanked Warner for making the recommendation. He remains the leader of the NAR and has pledged to continue with his political efforts outside the Parliament.

While McNicol has said she will be representing a broader constituency by remaining a member of COP the leader of the party has made it clear that McNicol would not be speaking on behalf of members of the COP.

According to Dookeran, "It would be in her personal capacity. She would not represent, nor would she be authorised to speak to other parties on behalf of the COP. This is what I told her and that is where it stands right now."

McNicol claims she has the support of the majority of the members of COP who voted for the party in the last election. She told the Express she arrived at that conclusion after "calling all of the representatives throughout the country. It was an exhaustive process but it was important enough for me, costly as it was to do because I believe it was necessary to seek consensus in something like this".

The question of McNicol's appointment is bound to arise at Sunday's UNC retreat in Chaguanas. The party agreed to hold the event in an attempt to heal wounds and resolve the impasse that has alienated many supporters and made three MPs- Jack Warner, Ramesh L. Maharaj and Winston "Gypsy" Peters - pariahs.

Maharaj and Peters plan to attend the retreat; Warner will be absent because he is on FIFA business abroad. He had advised the party well in advance of the announcement of the date for the retreat that he would be out of the country at this time.

Maharaj plans to present a comprehensive review of the status of the party in which he will outline the need for change as an essential part of any strategy of winning an election. His presentation would also reiterate a call for internal elections in the UNC.