Express Editorial

IT is clear from the results of the last general election, and from his inability to respond effectively to the corruption allegations against him, that it will be difficult for Basdeo Panday to lead the UNC into government again. While time is usually forgiving, Mr Panday, by his own admission, does not even have that on his side.

But it is also clear from the results of the last general election that Mr Panday, who doth bestride his party like a colossus, still commands tremendous support in the national community and that the UNC would be hard pressed to energise anything like the 283,656 votes it received last Monday, without him.

And that is the predicament facing the party, its officials and supporters today. Mr Panday has turned out to be his party’s greatest asset and its greatest liability one and the same time.

It is not unusual for political parties to face such crises on the departure (usually by death rather than resignation) of a long serving charismatic leader. One of the hallmarks of Mr Panday’s leadership has been the virtual annihilation of all aspirants to his position, beginning with Raffique Shah and passing through Hulsie Bhaggan and most recently Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.

Like his political mentor Dr Eric Williams, Mr Panday has always refused to groom or anoint any successor, decreeing that should be left to the democratic process. But Mr Panday’s presence in the UNC has been so overpowering that it has not allowed any worthwhile successor to grow in its shade.

While some have argued that it would have served the party better for Mr Panday to bow out prior to the last election and anoint a successor, the evidence across the region shows that is a strategy doomed to failure. John Compton in St Lucia, facing similar scandals, handed over his party to the technocrat Vaughn Lewis, only to be routed at the polls. There have been similar experiences in St Vincent, on the departure of Sir James Mitchell and Dominica after Dame Eugenia Charles, to suggest that such transitions are fraught with danger.

For the UNC, Winston Dookeran has already ruled himself out and most of the leading contenders are either too green politically or do not have sufficient national appeal to be able to quickly make the transition required. The pretensions of Gerald Yetming notwithstanding, given the nature of local politics it will also be difficult for a non Indo-Trinidadian to assume the position. The fall-out from last year’s UNC executive elections is quite instructive.

In fact, the UNC’s problems leading to its removal from government, began when Mr Panday attempted some succession planning by holding elections for a deputy political leader. The elections were won by Mr Maharaj, although there were suggestions that Mr Panday favoured Carlos John.

If this time around Mr Panday has a favoured candidate to succeed him, it is not obvious. He has suggested that the search should not be confined to those elected to Parliament last week and that he would be willing to resign his seat to facilitate the process.

Although there have been suggestions that Mr Panday is attempting a ruse similar to Dr Williams’ threatened resignation of 1973, the UNC leader has consistently maintained even prior to October 7 that this would be his last election and that he had no interest in returning to the Opposition benches.

The party should therefore go about seriously pursuing its search for a leader, rather than attempting to persuade Mr Panday to overstay his welcome. And should there be any doubt that a leader would arise, one needs look no further than the PNM’s defeat in 1986.

Sixteen years ago, following the 33-3 defeat, there were not many people who gave Patrick Manning any chance of becoming Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

It would be difficult, however, for any UNC leader to emerge once Mr Panday’s presence continues to dominate the party. The real question for the UNC therefore, is whether Mr Panday is prepared to disappear like George Chambers.

Reproduced from:
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