I ent saying Mr Panday has to leave or anything like that, but he should step aside—recuse himself from contesting the party elections—and let UNC go forward since he has given all he can and has nothing else to offer

And yuh know, dat and God face yuh will never see.

Jumbie's Watch

WHO DECIDES -

Some feel Panday should step aside, some feel Manning, Some feel Annisette, some Gypsy, some Jack, Some Ramesh, some Winston. Who decides and what is the mechanism. Polls on 106 FM indicate that many feel that RAMJACK should leave and form its own party. In terms of your parliamentary colleagues you have a minority view, so Panday has his supporters in and out of parliament. There are people who are so turned off by politicians they feel they should all resign. About one third of the electorate do not vote. So Gypsy if you think that you are well liked think again. Many feel that the political process is dysfunctional. It is a big money game. Parties seek power through hefty political contributions from the business community in return they give kickbacks and contracts. In the end all are tainted hence the admission "All ah we thief". We know you would say you are not like that you are Mr Clean. We had a Mr Clean from Mayaro before; in the end he was killed and accused of involvement in the drug trade. We have heard that from PNM and your beloved UNC before. Until your disagreement with Panday you sang his praises, he was not corrupt, he get set up. Birds of a feather flock together; you cannot now extricate yourself of guilt by association. When thing are going well we hear about we, collective responsibility. When things go wrong it is them that make we lose. Who make T&T qualify for the WORLD CUP Jack? Who cause T&T not to qualify for the WORLD CUP, them. Should Jack resign as head of T&T football? If you win the election everything is good. If you lose they thief and you will tie up everything in court just like UDECOTT.

I hate commenting on politics but I grind my teeth whenever I see Panday in the news.

This man did a lot for this country but is now undoing it. Why can't he just step back a bit and look at the big picture, and do the right thing?

http://dsaltsman.blogspot.com/

Panday shouldn't just step back a bit, he should step off a cliff. THEN there will be a real chance for real PROGRESS in Trinidad & Tobago. Its first chance in decades. Once Panday goes, the tenure of the PNM suddenly becomes uncertain. When Manning sees the very REAL possibility of getting boots outta the St. Ann's Mansion, he will start paying closer attention to the will of the people, because if not, he will face the DESIRE of the people when elections come around and he finds himself sitting on the opposite side, staring at a NEW government, and possibly charges arising out of UDECOTT and Calder Hart. I'd buy popcorn and a ringside seat for that!!! And since Panday's legal trickery and maneuvering will see him never making a jail, Panday have to stay home and help Oma mind the great-grandchildren now.

I am no Bas supporter, but Peters epitomises the abject worst in a politician. The most telling statement he uttered was

“If Mr Panday contests the leadership and wins, people will have to go on their own and do what they have to do minus the UNC. People will see the light and go to the COP and UNC will become a minority entity.”

How can he say that if Bas wins the internal election that people will leave? Surely if a leader wins an internal party election then he has both the moral support and numerical authority to act as he sees fit for the betterment of the party. If Peters cannot respect the democratic will of the people, what the hell is he doing in politics in the first place? Its his way or no way it appears. Maybe he should join the PNM where that principal holds sway?

Peters is also contradicting himself when he says
“I ent saying Mr Panday has to leave or anything like that,...".

On the contrary that is exactly what he is calling for... a UNC without Bas, and if that does not come to pass because the UNC supporters prefer to hang on to Bas, then he believes that the UNC is doomed.

If he is so unhappy with his leader then he should in all common decency resign from the party and take Jack and Ramesh with him. Political principals dictate that an MP who cannot support either the leader or the party platform should resign their seat. I think that the RamJackPeters faction lacks both political and moral integrity and as such have no grounds for making pronouncements.

Who Dares Wins

Gypsy's assessment is a very valid one. No one can take away Panday's valuable contribution to T& T's politics, except he himself. He himself has admitted that he is damaged goods and a liability and has asked his followerers many a time to choose a new leader. But it appears that he was only teasing them.

Panday has lost some of his shine and is mortally wounded politically speaking and his people need to stop propping him up like the Spanish did with their El Cid. He still is quite a charismatic character and will still attract support from his die-hard supporters. But they should sing to him the words of the song: "Please release me, let me go..."

Gypsy who famously sang to George Chambers: "Captain, the ship is sinking..." might as well sing: "Captain the UNC is sinking...". It is not that Peters loves Panday less, it is that Peters loves his Party and his Country more. If Panday persists to settle for the status quo selfishly, wittingly or unwittingly, lots more of UNC will migrate to the COP. When he was made minister of External Affairs under NAR, he was uncomfortable, missing the theatre of opposition politics; similarly when he became PM. Seems Leader of the Opposition is his comfort zone.

He should remember what happened to Dr Williams. He said he wanted to step down. His daughter nominated Kamal for leader, but PNM did not want him, they chose Karl. Then the IRO orchestrated a call for Williams to re-cross his Bridge over Troubled Waters. Later down the political road in the face of opposition from all quarters, this highly dignified gentleman was reduced to the ignominy of being smuggled out of Parliament in an ambulance to go home to die under a blanket in the heat. Williams overstayed his welcome. This should be a lesson to both Panday and Manning. Know when to take a bow ,to exit the stage gracefully and ride out into the sunset.