Panday: Kamla cannot call early election

United National Congress (UNC) founder Basdeo Panday has dismissed the reason put forward by party chairman David Lee, that the party’s political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar can bring forward the date for election of a political leader, in much the same way as a prime minister can call a snap election. He said that such power does not reside in the party’s constitution.

Commenting on a letter sent by Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh, who questioned whether the party’s constitution allowed for an early election of its political leader, Lee had responded on Tuesday that the party’s constitution does not state that the political leader cannot revalidate or seek a fresh mandate before her three-year term is up.

UNC’s election for political leader is due in December next year, however, November 26 has been set for such elections to be held in which Persad-Bissessar is vying for political leadership once more.

Lee has said, “There is nothing in the constitution that forbids her (Persad-Bissessar) from doing that. To put it in context, a prime minister of a country can call a snap election or seek revalidation or a fresh mandate from the people of the country.”

Speaking to the media following the opening ceremony of Presentation College Past Students Association’s annual career guidance seminar at the college’s auditorium, Coffee Street, San Fernando, yesterday, Panday said a politicial party’s political leader cannot be compared to that of the prime minister of a country. Panday said, “First of all, if there is a constitution, it ought to be obeyed. I don’t think the leader of a party can equate him or herself with the prime minister of the country. The prime minister of the country, when he calls an early election, he is doing so by the power he has under the constitution. I don’t think that kind of power resides in the constitution of the ‘thing’ that calls itself the UNC.”

However, in an emailed statement yesterday, Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who had since endorsed Persad-Bissessar’s candidacy for political leader, also expressed the belief that the party’s constitution “clearly allows for this amendment to the regulations to allow the national executive to take such a decision. I also believe that this move is one that seeks the best interest of the party and the nation at large, given that in 2019, Local Government elections are constitutionally due in Trinidad and Tobago, while in the following year, we will face a general election.”

And without identifying Singh by name, Gopeesingh called on potential dissenting members to rethink their actions and work toward the general good and best interest of the UNC party members and the nation at large.

Asked whether he thought Persad-Bissessar was acting illegally, Panday said: “ I am not saying that. I am saying that those who have studied the constitution would know much better than I would. What I am saying is that if the person contesting the elections is the person organising the elections, who do you think is going to win?”

Panday also distanced himself from internal rumblings within the party, saying the UNC, in its present incarnation, was “not the party I formed.” He added, “That thing there is not my party. That thing is not my party; that’s not the party I formed. The party I formed had principles.”

Asked whether Persad-Bissessar may be consolidating her power in anticipation of a snap election, Panday commented: “I don’t know what has motivated her to do that but I would say it is probably to hold onto to power.”