My recent conversations with Panday

DR VISHNU BISRAM

MY ASSOCIATION with Basdeo Panday goes back to 1978 when he was opposition leader and continued during the period he was prime minister and opposition leader again until till his death.

We always had a warm, respectful relationship with multiple personal engagements (in Trinidad, New York, Guyana, India) and countless phone conversations, even when we did not share political viewpoints on his leadership and the future of the UNC. We spoke recently on contemporary politics and the future of the party he founded. He informed me that he was working on his memoir.

In the last conversation, he indicated that he would continue his advocacy for constitutional change in his quest to effect socio-economic, political and cultural change, particularly to raise the standard of living of the poorer class. He had given up hope in the UNC returning to government.

Bas and I were close thru 2000; he was the most charismatic and wittiest person I even I met, with no comparison in the Caribbean. We developed political differences in 2001 related to internal party executive elections and that included the period when he was unjustifiably removed from the PM position after the tied election.

He was advised not to call a snap election and instead reconcile with dissidents because he would not win as per opinion surveys. And he became very upset when polls I conducted (as a neutral, objective professional) and published showed the UNC tying the PNM in the December 2001 election. He became even more enraged when subsequent polls I conducted revealed the PNM would win the October 2002 election unless Panday reconciled with former cabinet and parliamentary colleagues.

He was also told that unless he accommodated the dissidents, he would lose and never see the PM’s office again. He rejected the office and the consequences are now well known.

Our differences lasted a few years, but we reconnected at social events and met multiple times between 2003 and 2010. He was very cordial and jovial as usual. He accepted advice when his leadership of the UNC was threatened from 2003 and was able to retain control through 2010.

He was told he would lose to Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the leadership contest. He was also frankly told that the UNC would not return to office under his leadership post-2001, in much the same way that analysts have been saying since 2016 that the UNC would not return to office under the present leadership and dispensation. He also forecasted that the PNM would win the 2020 election.

Almost everyone in TT, including almost all of the MPs, is of the view that the UNC can’t win the next general election unless there is complete transformation of the party. Latest surveys reveal the UNC will not return to office in 2025 without major reforms.

There is much to be said for the compassionate attitude Panday demonstrated throughout his daily life and dealings with all people. He was also terse and did not mince words, but he remained witty and spoke with wisdom, bringing in his experience while serving as MP or in government. He spoke fearlessly about issues and the PNM government and UNC opposition.

He said today’s UNC is not the party he founded. Many UNC founding members and former stalwarts had approached Bas to rescue his party, but he did not show much interest. And he felt that internal UNC elections are not democratic and are a futile exercise participating in them to challenge incumbent executives.

He noted that political respect in TT has hit an unprecedented low with frequent use of derogatory and negative language in political discourse by opponents from both sides and in both islands. Instead of promoting mutual respect and racial harmony, many politicians adopted a consistently hostile and crude tone against each other, poking fun at names and making references to systems of servitude that have no relevance to debates. Politicians often attacked and vilified respected individuals.

And Panday was critical of those who engaged in derogatory public discourse – such as making inappropriate comments in Parliament or on political platforms and social media – that only intensifies conflicts among opponents and members of ethnic groups.

He had agreed that a new political force away from the PNM and UNC under current dispensation is needed for transformation of the country. He believed a new united force of mini-parties under transformational visionary leadership can defeat both parties.

When asked whether he would be willing to bring together parties and organisations or lead such a force, he said age is against it. Told that retired St Lucian former PM John Compton returned to the hustings at age 80 and won, Panday wittingly remarked that Compton died shortly thereafter in office.

Regrettably, Bas died as talks were under way to bring together politicians alienated from the UNC.