Panday: Take back Trinidad and Tobago from PNM, UNC

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) political leader Mickela Panday declares it is time for the electorate to take Trinidad and Tobago back from the PNM and the UNC on April 28.

She made the declaration at a PF meeting in Macaulay on April 10.

"It is time to take back our country and we are not afraid."

She said both the PNM and the UNC have questions to answer to the electorate. Panday focused first on Prime Minister Stuart Young.

"He speaks like he was never there."

Young was appointed prime minister on March 17, one day after Dr Keith Rowley resigned from that post. Panday reminded PF supporters Young held key positions in government which dealt with energy and national-security matters.

The UNC, she continued, is no better than the PNM.

"I cannot hate the UNC. My father (former prime minister Basdeo Panday) founded the UNC, but this is not the party my father founded."

The UNC, Panday continued, knows the PF "is the only party to beat the PNM."

She claimed all the UNC continued to do was "make excuses for losing."

Panday said it was beyond her that members of the UNC who had known her since she was child, "stoop so low to call me a PNM. Especially now, after my father's passing."

Panday's father, former prime minister Basdeo Panday died on January 1, 2024.

Panday also condemned Kamla Persad-Bissessar for boasting that she had purged the UNC and turned it into a meritocracy.

Persad-Bissessar, who served in the Panday administration from 1995-2001, made the boast when she spoke at the presentation of the UNC "coalition of interests" 39 candidates at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya on April 5.

Within this group the UNC only has 34 candidates contesting the April 28 general election.

Persad-Bissessar said, "I have purged the politics of caste, class, nepotism, family connections, segregation, discrimination and dynasty from the UNC."

Pandy said, "When she purged the party , she purged its history."

"Today I can stand up for myself and speak for my father."

She said the UNC was going all over TT making "crazy promises" which it could not keep.

Panday reminded PF supporters the UNC had a constitutional majority in government from May 2010 to Sept 2015 but did nothing.

She said all the UNC did was keep certain things like property tax alive by not repealing the relevant legislation to enact it.

Panday claimed that was why the PNM could implement it now.

She rejected UNC claims that the "PF is being funded by the PNM."

Panday declared, "That is nothing more than a desperate attempt to discourage you from voting for real change. It is a distraction. Plain and simple."

She claimed the UNC was attempting to shift attention away from its own failures "and the growing momentum of the PF."

Panday demanded to know "who is funding the UNC and who is funding the PNM...

"We are willing to open all of our accounts to public scrutiny."

Panday declared, "We are going to clean up government once and for all."

Panday said the population was tired of the back and forth corruption blame game between two political parties.

"One party points fingers and the other one says well you thief too."

She said, "We are not hear to thief. We are here to serve."

Panday added, "We have to put an end to 'who thief more' politics."

She said this April 28 was about ushering in a new era of transparency and trust.

"This election is not about red or yellow. It is not about tribe. It is about one thing. Who is ready to fix this country?"

Panday claimed the PNM and UNC were too worried about the PF taking away their respective voters that neither party was telling the population how they would address the real issues it faced today.

She said the PF would not follow the example of others and promise things they privately knew they could not deliver if elected to office.

Panday added the PF did not know what it would find should it become the next government.

She claimed neither the PNM nor the UNC was interested in accountability or transparency.

Panday urged the population not to fall for scare tactics employed by either party.

Panday rejected the UNC's claims the PF would split votes and hand the election to the PNM.

'"Let me make it crystal clear. Nobody owns your vote."

She added that more people chose not to vote in elections than those who did.

"This is why every single vote is extremely precious."

"PNM seats may be safe from the UNC. UNC seats may be safe from the PNM. But none of them are safe from us."

Panday reminded the population the PF did not split votes in the 2015 and 2020 elections.

She said the PNM still won both.

She said young people would be the catalyst for change on April 28.

The PF has 37 candidates contesting the election according to information provided by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

Panday is contesting the Couva North constituency which her father represented from September 24, 1976-April 8, 2010.

Her opponents are UNC deputy leader Jearlean John and the PNM's Brent Maraj.

PF candidate: Trinidad and Tobago fed up of PNM, UNC

Earlier, PF Tabaquite candidate Amzad Mohammed said the electorate was fed up with the politics of the PNM and the UNC.

"One common thing we need is change because we are fed up."

Mohammed said the PF presented the first viable option the electorate had after 62 years instead of the PNM and the UNC.

He suggested it was because many citizens had "a closed mind" and did not believe they would ever have meaningful change.

PF San Fernando East candidate Kenrick Serrette shared his view.

"How many people can say they have proper representation?" he asked the crowd.

The crowd shouted, " No."

PF Claxton Bay candidate Thelston Jagoo said, "Gone are the days of worshipping politicians."

He slammed the UNC for claiming Panday would split votes to deny them victory.

"You choose who to vote for on April 28, 2025," he told the audience.

Jagoo said, "Vote for a new generation of leaders who will lead us into 2030 and beyond with vision and with heart."