Wait and see over Mickela

POLITICAL analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath is adopting a wait-and-see stance on the potential fortunes of Mickela Panday’s new party, the Patriotic Front.

He reckoned she was probably chasing votes from UNC members who had previously supported her father, Basdeo Panday, UNC founder, whose exit from politics had been less than statesmanlike

Newsday asked if she and her party have much credibility, and whether she brought anything spectacular to the scene.

Ragoonath said, “I’d not raise it in the context of credibility.

“What I’d say is that Ms Panday and her advisers probably looked at the political environment and have seen there is some degree of disenchantment with people who would probably have supported the UNC, particularly when her father was leader. In that context she is probably looking to see whether she could capture any amount of voters from that era when her father was the leader.”

That may not be easy, as he is no longer leader. As to whether she would make an impact, he said, “I can’t say I am seeing that right now. But again, we are a long way off from the election.”

Does the Panday name still have a sheen and an allure, for instance among for former sugar cane workers, or was Basdeo Panday discredited over the airport expansion?

“I don’t think the airport expansion would have discredited Mr Panday himself.” However, beyond the airport controversy, when the UNC was going through its various convulsions from 2002-2010, there was an effect on Panday, Ragoonath said.

“He found himself in 2010 at the brunt of severe criticism within the UNC and in fact that led to his disastrous defeat in 2010 (for UNC leadership.)

“I’m not sure that Mr Panday, in the post-2010 period, would have done much to recapture that which he would have lost.” Many people would have disliked certain comments on and criticisms of the UNC he had made as ex-leader.

Newsday asked if there is anything now to boost third parties to break out of the usual dominance of the two-party system, such as Brexit’s impact on last Sunday’s European Parliament elections.

“I don’t think there’s anything different at this point in time. I think the emergence of small parties suggests there is a constituency outside who would like to see something different, but that constituency is yet to be consolidated and hence the reason we have all these small parties coming up.