After a hiatus from the Parliament, UNC founder and former prime minister Basdeo Panday has aspirations to return as the MP for Siparia after the 2015 general election.
Panday, rather tongue-in-cheek, declared his intention to contest either the Siparia or his old Couva North constituency after he had an emissary collect a UNC nomination form at the Rienzi Complex yesterday to begin the process. He spoke to members of the media at his office in the same building.
“There are a few constituencies I am looking at... Siparia is one of them and Couva North. A nomination form has been collected on my behalf,” he said. Asked whether his interest in the form meant he was considering re-entering frontline politics, Panday responded: “Well I have to decide. I have been inundated by requests from the grassroots.”
However, Panday said the UNC today was not the one he and others founded 26 years ago. He added: “The UNC today is not the UNC which was founded by us. As a matter of fact, not a single one of them (current executive) was there when this party was formed. “That party had a very clear vision of the society. It knew where it wanted to go and was strongly against waste, nepotism and corruption.
“The present party is little different from the PNM, in that it tolerates waste, corruption, mismanagement and it’s guilty of vindictiveness.” When asked what he would do if he did decide to run but was not selected by the UNC’s screening committee, Panday said: “That is in the future, I can’t say for now.”
Despite the hints that he is poised to re-enter the political arena, Panday said the outcome of this year’s general election would change nothing for the people of the country until there was constitutional reform. “Nothing will happen to the country, no matter which party wins, we have been doing this for 50 years.
“We have been voting in a political system which is designed to keep races apart and voting has been and continues to be based on racial groups,” he added. He said he believed the marginal constituencies would be the deciding factor of who would win the election. “There are certain marginal constituencies and whoever wins those will win the election. It is not going to be by a large margin though,” he added.
Panday also weighed in on the suspension of Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley from the Parliament. “I think one should wait until the police and Integrity Commission have finished their investigations but the Parliament decided to throw Dr Rowley out on a matter for which the investigation is not complete. That is strange but then this government can do anything,” he said.
A total of 43 people collected forms yesterday at the party’s headquarters. The distribution of forms continues until tomorrow at 4 pm.