As the People's National Movement (PNM) swings into election mode the government has announced that Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Opposition leader Basdeo Panday will meet on Tuesday at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, "to hold discussions on matters of national interest, namely, constitution reform and crime".Panday confirmed the meeting in an interview with the Trinidad Express. He said it was Manning who made the request to him during Friday's sitting of Parliament.
"He called me behind the Speaker's chair and said that the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition should meet on national issues," Panday told the paper.
Panday said such consultations are part of the governing system. "That is usually the practice in most democratic countries that the leader of the Opposition and the prime minister should meet...I cannot refuse to meet with the prime minister on national issues if that is what he wishes."
Manning last met with Panday in 2006 following which the government got the support of the opposition to pass critical crime legislation.
Tuesday's meeting is very specific about its agenda. Panday himself has been speaking at public meetings on the need for constitutional reform.
His model would be for a single house of Parliament with between 90 and 100 members elected in general election and an executive president elected separately on the basis of a one-person-one-vote.
He is also pushing for proportional representation, which he has argued is a fairer system that guarantees that everyone gets a voice in the legislature. But Manning has consistently rejected that as a formula for chaos because in his view it would produce voting blocs based on race, religion and other interests.
Congress of the People (COP) leader Winston Dookeran has drawn a connection between Panday and Manning and suggested at a political meeting last week that they have a deal to help one another.
"In parliament the Prime Minister was saying that I will defend you in the UNC and I will defend the PNM; we shall not fall - meaning the UNC and the PNM. And Mr. Panday returns the favour and says thank you very much, I will now support the executive presidency in Trinidad and Tobago," Dookeran said, calling the charade high level diplomacy.
Read the story: Dookeran slams gov't; talks of Panday-Manning alliance
The Express asked Panday if he would raise with Manning the plight of depositors and shareholders of the Hindu Credit Union, which the United National Congress UNC) took to Parliament last week.
"I do not know if protocol will allow this, regarding the fact that it is engaging the attention of Parliament. That matter has not been concluded," Panday told the paper.
Commenting on the HCU matter Panday said Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira was "missing the point" he was trying to make in Parliament on the HCU matter.
Nunez Tesheira said that the "major players" in the HCU leadership did not provide full disclosure to the government when it sought to help the credit union in April 2008.
Panday explained that he was dealing with the present situation where tens of thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and are in desperate need of government's intervention.
"The point we are trying to make is that there is a moral responsibility on the part of the Government to deal with the matter... I wasn't carrying any case on behalf of anybody else besides the shareholders and the depositors," Panday said.
Read the story: UNC demands equal treatment for HCU depositors
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