Panday on warpath:
Manning regime like Aristide’s

By RICHARDSON DHALAI

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday said on Monday night there were several similarities between the ongoing Haitian crisis and events on the local political scene. He said the Manning Administration was fostering the same type of street gangs which toppled the Jean-Bertrand Aristide regime in Haiti. Addressing a large crowd at the UNC’s Monday Night forum at Barrackpore Secondary School, Panday said events leading to the reported resignation of Haitian president Aristide, including the identity of the Haitian rebel leaders, were extremely instructive. Reading from an article in an international news magazine which said the Haitian crisis had been brewing since Aristide’s party swept to power using flawed legislative elections, Panday claimed that had also been the modus operandi of the Manning Administration.

“Now once you steal a government or win a government by force, you have got to hold it by force. You can’t hold it otherwise and that is exactly how Manning and the PNM won this elections, by stealth and violence,” Panday charged. The UNC leader said the ruling party had also resorted to Jamaican-style political violence where gangs aligned to the main political parties often used violence against their rivals. “And it happened in Haiti because the politicians introduced violence into the political system and that is exactly what Manning and the PNM have done to Trinidad and Tobago, they have introduced violence into the political system,” he said. However, Panday added, instead of dancing in the streets on an election night, PNM supporters were “holding their head and bawling” because of the rising cost of living. Those very same supporters could be the downfall of the PNM, Panday predicted. He pointed out that the Haitian rebel leaders were once staunch Aristide death-squad commanders, gang leaders and supporters.

“We have gangs that supported the PNM to get into power in the last elections,” he said. Panday said there was a lesson to be learnt from Prime Minister Manning’s recent walkabouts in certain areas of North Trinidad.According to Panday, unlike Haiti and Jamaica, the TT opposition party was against the use of violence in the political process. “That is why I preach a philosophy of peace to prevent the country from being bathed in violence,” he said. On the issue of Police Service reform, the Opposition Leader said it was linked to constitutional reform and the ‘‘how to’’ stage had been reached, which required public consultation and cooperation from the two political parties.