Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she will continue to try to reach out to the family of former UNC leader and ex-prime minister Basdeo Panday.
Speaking to members of the media at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Parliament after signing the condolence book for Panday at the Rotunda Gallery at the Red House in Port of Spain yesterday, she said: “I tried to reach out to Ms Mickela Panday (Panday’s daughter) but regrettably I know they are very busy and in grief, I have not been able to directly speak with her but I have sent messages to her. As I said I tried with the phone and I continue to do so. I know that this is a very difficult time for them and indeed many of us in the country.”
MASKED PROTESTERS: Silent protesters, wearing black masks, display placards opposite the Red House yesterday during the public viewing of Panday’s body. —Photos: ISHMAEL SALANDY
In response to a question on whether she believed that her inability to reach Mickela had anything to do with her Facebook post about her father on December 27 which stated “…to those he trusted the most, conspiring and plotting to steal the party he formed and so hard to build,” Persad-Bissessar said: “I do not share that view and Ms Panday is entitled to her views, thoughts and opinions. I know that the family is in a very serious state of grief at the moment so I will not comment on what she said.”
Persad-Bissessar also said that the UNC intends to honour Panday by showing support and being part of his funeral next week Tuesday at SAPA in San Fernando. She added, “We have established in every corporation, seven of those in areas that are UNC-controlled, condolence books. In addition, at the UNC headquarters we have a condolence book there as well open to for the public. At the Tunapuna Regional office, we also have a condolence book and we also put one at the Opposition Office on Charles Street, Port of Spain.”
Persad-Bissessar said she also approved the Maha Saba’s move to rename the Shiva Boys’ Hindu College after Panday.
“I think that is a great tribute because people may not remember before that school became Shiva Boys’ College it was Gandhi College. It was long run down, shut down. We held a meeting in that same venue, Mr Panday, the then-prime minister, turned to me and said in that meeting, he said ‘Minister of Education, can we abolish the Common Entrance exam?’ I remember that as if it were yesterday,” said the UNC leader.
The exam was abolished because of his vision and later on under his leadership many other schools were built to give all students the opportunity to attend secondary school, she added.
She also said that while many are calling for Piarco International Airport to be named after Panday, that was not under the UNC’s purview but a decision to be made by the government.
On the sidewalk opposite the Red House yesterday, silent masked protesters held placards that seemed anti-Kamla Persad-Bissessar, with phrases such as “UNC needs a leader like Panday”, “No more rigged UNC election”, “We love you Mr Basdeo Panday” and “No other like you Mr Panday”.
When asked why they chose to protest, the protesters told the Express that was their way of paying tribute to the late Basdeo Panday.
They refused to reveal who organised the protest, saying only that it was through a community WhatsApp chat they were told to gather outside of the Red House.
When probed about where they came from, they said various parts of South.
One man said he came from Couva, while another said he came from Gran Couva and another chimed in, “we come from all over”.
Similarly last year when Persad-Bissessar visited the Divali Nagar, there were anti-Kamla protesters who refused to state where they came from and whom they represented.