I want to applaud the PM for his master political stroke in inviting Basdeo Panday as Leader of the Opposition for talks. In doing so he has given Panday the kind of political prominence and credibility which the latter is sure to use to revive his own flagging political fortunes and claims to leadership of the UNC. With this happening, the prospect of any unity among the many Opposition forces is certain to be destroyed at such a time when such unity seems a distinct possibility, with Panday under siege within his own party as recent events have shown.
Can anyone with an iota of intelligence imagine two parties and two personalities, traditionally at each other’s throat, engaging in any meaningful dialogue? At a time when his own party is beset with some problems of its own, the PM is showing his political genius in ensuring his own longevity and that of his party even as Opposition forces, as a direct result of his master stroke, continue to flounder in their quest for unity.
Dr Errol Benjamin
