For­mer Prime Min­is­ter Bas­deo Pan­day has passed away.

This was con­firmed by his daugh­ter Mick­ela Pan­day this evening.

In a post to so­cial me­dia a short while ago, she said, “With deep sor­row, we would like to share that our lov­ing hus­band and fa­ther, Bas­deo Pan­day, passed away on 1st Jan­u­ary 2024, sur­round­ed by his fam­i­ly."

She added, "In life and death he was a fight­er. He passed with his boots on, keep­ing every­body around him on their toes with his wit and hu­mour. He will live on in all of us, re­mem­bered as a won­der­ful hus­band, fa­ther, grand­fa­ther, leader, and friend. He was an in­spi­ra­tion to his fam­i­ly and every­body that knew him. We will con­tin­ue to cel­e­brate his life and trea­sure the time we were able to spend with him."

Pan­day, who cel­e­brat­ed his 90th birth­day on May 25, was Trinidad and To­ba­go’s fifth prime min­is­ter, serv­ing from 1995-2001.

He was the founder and leader of the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress up to 2010 when he was re­placed by Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar.

In ear­ly De­cem­ber 2023, Pan­day, af­ter con­sul­ta­tion with lo­cal doc­tors over a med­ical con­cern, had trav­elled to the Unit­ed States for a check-up by doc­tors there.

Cur­rent UNC leader Per­sad-Bisses­sar took to so­cial me­dia mo­ments af­ter the news be­gan cir­cu­lat­ing to of­fer her con­do­lences.

"I am sad­dened that Mr Pan­day has passed away. I will al­ways love him and be grate­ful that he was a sig­nif­i­cant in­flu­ence in my life," Per­sad-Bisses­sar wrote on Face­book.

"He was a great leader and spent most years of his life help­ing the op­pressed and poor. Mr Pan­day will al­ways be re­mem­bered with love and ado­ra­tion by all of us whose lives he touched.

"I ex­press my con­do­lences to all his loved ones. May his soul rest in peace. He will be missed but will al­ways be re­mem­bered and loved."

Pres­i­dent Chris­tine Kan­ga­loo al­so of­fered con­do­lences to his fam­i­ly, friends and all those mourn­ing his death, say­ing she was deeply sad­dened at Pan­day's pass­ing.

"Union leader, politi­cian, states­man, hus­band and fa­ther, Mr Pan­day, though diminu­tive in stature, was a gi­ant of a man who led this coun­try with pas­sion and com­pas­sion," Kan­ga­loo said in a state­ment.