Warner threatens to sue Panday, says UNC leader has reached "lowest of lows"

Jack Warner on Wednesday threatened to sue former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday for libel and slander as the rift between the two United National Congress (UNC) heavyweights deepened.

The UNC deputy leader was responding to statements made by Panday in reference to Warner's action on Monday to provide a cheque for $309,000 to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation to pay the wages for 54 contract workers who had been laid off because of a budget shortfall.

Read the story: Warner offers $309,000 cheque

The local government minister has indicated that the Attorney General will have to rule on whether "a private citizen" can hand money to the corporation to pay wages.

Read the story: Minister seeks AG's guidance on Warner's $309,000 cheque

Commenting on the matter Panday first suggested Warner should use the money from the $30 million he allegedly received on behalf of the party for the 2007 election campaign, a charge that Warner has consistently rejected. But Panday went further and raised other issues and questioned Warner’s motive.

"Mr Warner said it was a grant, where did the money come from? Was the grant made available to Mr Warner or the corporation? These are extremely important questions," Panday said.

He also noted that it's important for the country to know whether the money is coming from drug lords seeking to control the borough.

That comment incensed Warner who reacted angrily to it during a radio talk show, saying Panday had "crossed the line" with those remarks. He said he would be meeting with his lawyers in London to seek legal redress.

"I will take him to court...it will be a long hot summer," said Warner, adding that Panday’s reference to drug lords "is for me the lowest of lows".

An angry Warner declared that "Mr. Panday will pay," and reminded listeners of the libel suit former media executive Ken Gordon successfully filed against Panday some years ago for comments he made in a speech while Panday was prime minister.

The Chaguanas West MP said that the court awarded judgement in his favour would make the Gordon affair look like "a piece of cake".

The legal threat is a prelude to Friday's showdown between the two UNC politicians. Warner and his colleagues Ramesh L. Maharaj and Winston "Gypsy" Peters have scheduled a mass meeting on Friday afternoon to open a private political office in Panday's Couva North constituency.

The point of the office is to get back to Panday who announced recently that Warner, Maharaj and Peters - the so-called RAMJACK group - had "sold out" to the governing People's National Movement (PNM) and had deserted their constituents so the UNC was setting up "caretaker" committees in each of their constituencies.

Warner reacted by announcing he would do the same in Panday's constituency, which he has represented since 1976, and the ones held by his brother, Subhas, and daughter, Mickela.

Warner himself will run the Couva North office.

Warner and Panday have been at loggerheads for more than a year over Warner's call for internal elections in the party and for greater accountability to the membership. He has also demanded that the party make the necessary changes to become prepared to fight the PNM and win in a general election.

The RAMJACK team has launched what it calls a Platform for Change and has been holding meetings across the country to educate people on the need for change in the UNC.

The gloves came off two weeks ago when Warner staged what the UNC called a coup in the Changuanas borough and ousted the UNC mayor, Suruj Rambachan, by getting three UNC councillors and two PNM members of the council to vote Rambachan out of office.

Warner's handpicked candidate, 30-year-old banker Natasha Navas, was subsequently appointed mayor.