He vowed to turn Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday into a poor man, by suing him for slander. But yesterday, the dissident deputy political leader of the UNC Jack Warner backed down on his threat and said he had decided not to proceed with legal proceedings against Panday.
It was only on Tuesday that British Queen's Counsel Alan Newman arrived in Trinidad to represent Warner. In a news release yesterday, Warner stated that pleas from Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma and UNC general secretary Fazal Karim, together with many more calls, were instrumental in him changing his mind not to take Panday to court. "I have given serious consideration to the numerous pleas made to me by members of the UNC," he stated. "Since I always put the interest of the membership of the party and the party first in my actions, I have decided to hold my hands and not to proceed to commence the action for libel against Panday, but without prejudice to my future legal rights in respect to this matter. "I am not interested in getting personal gain at the expense of the party and I have always dedicated my time and every resource which I possess to the party. "
Warner, however, stated clearly that his decision did not change his calls for change of leadership within the party. "This change is mandatory if the party is to win the next general elections," he said. "Based on the actions of Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his party, this country needs to rescued from the current Government. When informed of Warner's decision, Panday replied: "Warner is irrelevant...Warner is irrelevant to the UNC and to the politics of T&T." However, his colleagues, who for the past months have called on Warner to resign from the party, were in high praise of him. Praising Warner for letting good sense prevail, Sharma said: "Warner has good in him. He has listened listen to a groundswell of people. Politicians are the movers and they add value. Warner is an international player and people were of the view that the matter was creating negativity for the party and not adding value. He is good man but sometimes evil contaminates the good."
Gopeesingh, who also opted to set aside the political picong, telephoned Warner on Tuesday and pleaded with him not to sue Panday. "I called him in a personal capacity not on behalf of party nor on behalf of Panday or anyone else," he said. "I thought the issue was going on to long. It was looking dirty in the eyes of the public. It had to come to and end." Meanwhile, Warner said he had instructed his team of lawyers to take the necessary steps regarding what he called the unlawful actions by the national executive of the party to take disciplinary action against himself, Maharaj and Mayaro MP Winston "Gypsy" Peters.