Manning says UNC should not abandon Panday

Patrick Manning wants to know why the United National Congress (UNC) has abandoned its founder, former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.

Speaking at a political meeting in Palo Seco, the leader of the people's national movement wondered why Panday is absent from the UNC platform.

"I noticed that every Tom, Dick and Harry believes that they can say what they want about Basdeo Panday. He is the founder of the UNC, you know. When he was conducting his activities in the sugar union, where were they?" Manning asked.

"Today, he was thrown out unceremoniously and every time they talk, they have nothing good to say about the gentleman. ’They forget that that is where they came from...I see Basdeo Panday as founder of the UNC, and I find it entirely out of order," he said.

Manning added, "As a political leader myself, I consider it entirely out of order."

Panday has used the same argument to criticize the new leadership in the UNC, saying both the political leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and chairman Jack Warner were not present when the party was launched "in the rain at Aranguez".

Manning spoke about Panday as a man who fought for sugar workers and suggested that he should be treated with some dignity.

It was Manning who opposed Panday every step of the way in politics and one of his first acts as Prime Minister following the 2002 general election was to close down the sugar industry.

And he is on record as well as making every effort to connect Panday to corruption.

On the platform last week he said while his government remains dedicated to fighting corruption the UNC administration under Panday turned a blind eye to corruption. Manning insisted that the Panday government was the most corrupt ever.

Panday was Prime Minister from 1995 to 2001. His government fell in 2000 within months of winning a clear majority. In the election that followed, the PNM and UNC each won 18 seats.

Panday and Manning met to discuss forming a government of national unity but they failed to reach agreement. On Christmas Eve 2001, President Robinson fired Panday and appointed Manning as Prime Minister.

Manning has always boasted that he will remain Prime Minister while Panday remained opposition leader. But he got a shock earlier this year when Persad-Bissessar defeated Panday 10-1 in internal UNC elections and became leader on January 24.

One month later President Richards fired Panday as Opposition Leader and handed the job to Persad-Bissessar.

Panday has refused to accept the new leadership, refused to attend caucus meetings and has stated that the party he founded would be dead within months.

Speaking about the campaign Manning appeared to suggest that he would take action against the media.

"You must write letters to the newspapers; they don’t publish them, but write them nonetheless. You write, let them don’t publish. A day will come when they will have to publish PNM letters," he said.