Bas & Ramesh now a team?

The United National Congress (UNC) leadership race has three contenders: the incumbent, Basdeo Panday and challengers, Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Tabaquite MP Ramesh L. Maharaj.

But news reports and statements coming from Maharaj suggest that he is training his guns only on Persad-Bissessar while defending Panday.

His message has been that only he and Panday are fighters for the people and only they can "save" the UNC from infiltration by outsiders.

He went one step further on Friday and suggested that if he wins the January 24 election and becomes leader of the party, he would allow Panday to continue as opposition leader in the House of Representatives.

Panday loyalists Dr Roodal Moonilal and Vasant Bharath had already stated that if Panday loses, the Parliamentary caucus would vote to keep him as opposition leader.

Both Maharaj and Panday were in the Siparia constituency Friday, looking for support about UNC members there. Maharaj did a walkabout in Debe and Panday launched his campaign at Penal Junction.

The Siparia constituency is one of the strongest among those held by the UNC and Persad-Bissessar has won landslides in each general election.

On media talks shows the Maharaj and Panday have been saying the Siparia MP cannot be trusted with the leadership of the party because unlike them she is weak politically and cannot beat the PNM in an election.

Maharaj has been quoted as saying the election "is not a beauty contest" adding that UNC supporters have to decide "if to put their faith in Jack and Kamla or Ramesh and Basdeo Panday".

While Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner has endorsed Persad-Bissessar as the best canididate to be UNC leader, both he and the Siparia MP have made it clear that they are running independent campaigns.

Warner, who is running for chairman, launches his campaign in Felicity on Saturday night. He is preceding that event with a walkabout in his constituency Saturday.

The Siparia MP issued a statement Friday on Maharaj's new "Bas and I" mantra in which she suggested that the Tabaquite MP appears to be unsure if he wants to be leader or not.

"Mr. Maharaj has to be serious and let us know whether he is fighting for the political leadership of the party or the deputy political position. It appears that what he has said is that he wants to be Mr. Panday's second in command," she observed.

She suggested that she knows what she is doing. "I am running for Political Leader of the UNC to take us forward into Government."