Panday in court after UNC earthquake
Ousted UNC political leader Basdeo Panday hides from reporters as he goes to court. He remains bitter about his defeat.
The morning after.
Bright and early after heavy defeat in the United Congress’(UNC) internal executive elections, Basdeo Panday was back in court today to answer charges of not declaring income as dictated by the Integrity in Public Act legislation.
Panday ducked reporters as he entered the Port of Spain Magistrate’s Courts.
Preliminary figures indicate that Panday, the UNC’s strongman for the past 21 years, was soundly thrashed by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the woman who admitted that she learnt politics at the feet of the 76-year-old veteran.
Panday, apparently, has not taken the defeat lightly warning that action may be taken by his supporters and repeated his prediction that with Kamla as political leader and Jack Warner as chairman the party would be destroyed in six months.
He told a reporter: ”The party will be destroyed. I believe that if those people have their will, the party would be destroyed. It would be handed over to the COP.”
Panday’s ouster as political leader of the party he founded 21 years ago represents a political earthquake in Trinidad and Tobago and may be cause for concern for Prime Minister Patrick Manning with Local Government elections due by mid-