Kamla unseats Panday, sees move as one step closer to government

Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Thursday took the oath of office to become leader of the Opposition, succeeding Basdeo Panday whom she defeated in the party's internal election on January 24 to become leader of the United National Congress.

President Max Richards, who administered the oath, said it was a historic event to appoint the country's first female Opposition Leader.

The Siparia MP has held the post before, but it was in an acting capacity while Panday was banished from the House of Representatives.

It took a month of negotiations before she was able to secure the support of the majority of opposition MPs to remove Panday and take office.

In a brief statement following the event, Persad-Bissessar said she is now one step closer to getting into government. She added that a UNC government would return peace to Trinidad and Tobago.

"Our party now speaks with one voice. We will chart a new way forward to deliver on the hopes and expectations of our citizenry, desperate for a way out of the crisis which the Manning administration has led this nation into," she said.

"I oppose the arrogance and self-glorification of the current leadership in the PNM.

"I oppose the lack of compassion and concern for the well-being of our citizens, so many of whom are ironically supporters of the ruling party.

"I oppose the trampling of the rights of workers.

"I oppose the view that people will vote only along tribal and ethnic lines regardless of whether they are being properly represented or not," she said.

The UNC leader said she represents change and opposes those who believe that things cannot change.

"I pledge to the nation that Trinidad and Tobago will be returned to the peaceful, stable and progressive society it once was," she said.

Persad-Bissessar told the media she is ready to take the party forward and invited everyone to come on board.

In a message that seemed to be directed by some members of the party who still refuse to accept her leadership, she said the UNC "is not in the business of running anybody out of the party" and promised to try her best "to hold everyone together".

The holdouts include St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath, who attended the ceremony although he did not sign the letter endorsing her for the post.

"I never pretended to support Mrs Persad-Bissessar and I thought I would have been hypocritical after she was appointed leader of the Opposition for me to then jump and endorse her," he told reporters.

Bharath had said he would accept Persad-Bissessar's leadership under certain conditions. He wants the party to have a discussion "to facilitate a graceful exit" for Panday.

"I think we as a country and as a people will always be judged by the way we treat our elders and leaders and our children," he said.

Panday himself refuses to be graceful in the new political landscape. In a media statement Thursday he said he would accept Persad-Bissessar's leadership although he still has reservations about the election in which she defeated him.

However he said he would not sit on the front bench while UNC Chairman Jack Warner is Chief Whip. He has demanded, as he has done in the past, that Warner account for "millions of dollars". He wants Persad-Bissessar to fire Warner and has said he would sit in the back bench until she does that.

For his part the Chaguanas West MP has again dismissed Panday's allegations.

Read a profile of Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the Trinidad Express
Read the NEWSDAY editorial: Well done, Kamla!