March 9th, 2010.

Former opposition leader Basdeo Panday said yesterday that he is no puppet and if Kamla Persad-Bissessar needs his support in the Parliament, she should pick up the phone and speak to him.

Persad-Bissessar has filed a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Patrick Manning, but will need Panday’s support if it is to succeed.

Yesterday, however, Panday, despite the strong criticism over his action to not support Persad-Bissessar in a motion she moved last Friday, which had called for UDeCOTT chairman Calder Hart’s removal from all State boards, said he will continue to take this stand until he is afforded the courtesy of being consulted.

Panday and Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath did not lend their support to the motion on Friday, thereby blocking any Government response on the UDeCOTT fiasco.

Both men said they should have been consulted and they maintained that position yesterday.

Said Panday, ’If my support was needed, the least I expect is that I would be asked about it so that I would have an opportunity to express an opinion.

I don’t know what she’s going to say.

I have never been a puppet of anybody for all my life and I don’t intend to be a puppet now.

My support must not be presumed, if my support is needed, I expect to be consulted.

I am not going to be treated with contempt, I am too old for that now.’

Asked whether he would attend the party’s weekly parliamentary caucus at Rienzi Complex, Couva, Panday said, ’I have indicated that I would not serve under Jack Warner.’

Warner, who is the chief whip, chairs the parliamentary caucus. Panday has moved to the back benches of the Parliament, saying that he was willing to work with Persad-Bissessar, but not Warner until he accounts for some $30 million which was donated to the party.

Questioned on Hart’s resignation, Panday said, ’I hope this is not the end of the matter, but that the report of the Commission would be made public and if there is any wrongdoing, the matter would be referred to the DPP.’

Ramnath said the motion raised by Persad-Bissessar last Friday was ’no big deal’, since the matter was already aired in the public domain and ventilated by Opposition MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who caused a Commission on Enquiry to be carried out on UDeCOTT and the construction sector.

Ramnath said he hoped he would be consulted on any motion that is going to be put forward from the Opposition benches, including the motion of no confidence in Manning.

’I am not here to object to what they are doing, I am there to ensure the party looks good when we debate any issue and I would be properly informed as to what is the basis of the motion and whether it is timely,’ he said.


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