PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Basdeo Panday, who served as Trinidad and Tobago’s fifth prime minister and who once told the country that “If you see me and a lion fighting, feel sorry for the lion,” has died. He was 90.
Panday had been ill in recent weeks, but the nature of his illness had not been disclosed.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said he was saddened at the death of Panday saying “this is a man, a citizen, whose impact was felt at every step of the way as he made his mark so indelibly on the people of our nation.
Panday became prime minister in 1995 when he led the United National Congress (UNC) to defeat the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM). The UNC won 17 of the 36 seats in the Parliament and although the party received fewer votes, the UNC was able to form a coalition with the two-seat National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) allowing Panday to become the country’s first prime minister of Indian descent.
In the 2020 general election, the UNC won 19 seats of the 36 seats, but Panday’s government collapsed with the defection of three of his legislators, – Ramesh Maharaj, Trevor Sudama and Ralph Maraj.
In a message posted on her Facebook page, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar, who served as the first woman to lead a government here and who replaced Panday as UNC leader, wrote “I am saddened that Mr Panday has passed away.
Panday, an attorney, trade unionist, economist, actor, and former civil servant, first entered Parliament in 1976 winning the Couva North seat. He served as opposition leader on five occasions between 1976 and 2010 and was the founding member of three political parties including the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) an amalgam of opposition parties and the UNC .
In 2006, Panday was convicted of failing to declare a bank account in London and imprisoned. However, on March 20, 2007, that conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal and on May 1he resigned as the UNC chairman, with the party’s executive refusing to accept his resignation. He lost the party’s internal elections on January 24, 2010, to Persad Bissessar, who led the UNC into a People’s Partnership coalition that won the general elections that same year.
Panday’s political career began in 1965, when he joined the Workers and Farmers Party and an unsuccessful run for Parliament.
Panday said the Westminster system, with one of its most dominant features being the first-past- the-post model, “superimposed upon a racially divided country,” must be removed to engender a free people.
He was well known for his wit and humour, and as prime minister reminded the population “anyone who attacks my government shall not escape unscathed”.
Former St.lucia prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony noted that Panday will be missed.
Panday is survived by his wife, Oma and four daughters as well as other relatives, including his brother, Subhas Panday, a former minister in the Ministry of National Security.
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