Opposition MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj says the call by one United National Congress (UNC) delegate for Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday to step down as its interim leader will only be significant when more of the party’s members express their support for such a move.

Maharaj, who along with Opposition MPs Jack Warner and Winston ’Gypsy’ Peters, is leading a campaign for change in the UNC, made the comment in an interview with the Express on Monday as he lamented the fact that less of the party’s membership was showing interest in its affairs.

This was his response to the call by the delegate, who has been identified only as Abdul, for Panday to hand over the leadership of the UNC to Opposition MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar during the party’s national congress at its Rienzi Complex, Couva, headquarters on Sunday.

’It is not unusual for members of the party to express their view for change. This is the first time that you had this thing happening on such a sensitive issue, but it has to be remembered that the UNC Congress has to be representative, I mean, there used to be a lot more people and what I am a lot more concerned with is the lack of interest of the members of the party,’ Maharaj said.

He recalled that two or three years ago, a UNC National Congress would draw the attendance of ’thousands’ of people.

’Yesterday (Sunday) there was about 4,000 people. There has been a decline in the attendance at congress meetings and it is because the institutions in the party have not been working and that means there has to be change in the party for the institutions to work for the party to compete with any other party,’ Maharaj said.

He said the demand for change within the UNC was reflected by the applause that immediately followed Abdul’s call for Panday to step aside.

’What is significant is that at the ground level in the party, people want change and yesterday (Sunday) there was a call for change. I am only hoping that the (UNC) members of the Parliament recognise what the people want is change and participate in that change and not condone things as it is,’ Maharaj said.

Contacted for comment on Monday, Persad-Bissessar said that she had no idea Abdul was going to call for her to take over as the UNC leader from Panday during the congress and added that he is no friend of hers.

’I had no discussion with this person before he spoke. I had no idea he would be making such a statement. I may have spoken to him in the past, as I spoke to other members of the party as a deputy political leader,’ Persad-Bissessar said.