Trinidadian politician (1933–2024)
Basdeo Panday (; 25 May 1933 – 1 January 2024) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North, Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.
He was the chairman and party leader of the United National Congress. In 2006, Panday was convicted of failing to declare a bank account in London and imprisoned; however, on 20 March 2007, that conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. On 1 May he decided to resign as chairman of the United National Congress, but the party's executive refused to accept his resignation. He lost the party's internal elections on 24 January 2010, to deputy leader and future prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
In 2005, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
Early life.
Basdeo Panday was born on 25 May 1933, in the neighborhood of Coonook in St. Julien Village, Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago into an Indo-Trinidadian family to Kissoondaye and Harry "Chote" Sookchand Panday. He was the oldest of five children born to his parents and, through his father, he had two elder half-sisters and one younger half-sister. His parents and grandparents were immigrants from British India who immigrated to Trinidad as indentured labourers under the Indian indenture system. His maternal grandparents were from Laxmanpur, a farming village of the Azamgarh district in the Bhojpur region of the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh in the Hindi Belt of North India, which he visited on a state trip to India in 1997 and met with extended members of his family and donated INR₹1.5 million to help develop the village. He attended New Grant Government School and
St. Julien Presbyterian School. He was later enrolled in Presentation College, San Fernando with help from his father's uncle Joseph Hardath Dube. He later worked as a sugarcane weigher at the Williamsville Estate near Princes Town for one crop season in 1951. He then worked as a primary school teacher at Seereram Memorial Vedic School in Montrose, Chaguanas, and at St. Clement Vedic School at the St. Clement Junction in St. Madeleine. He was also a civil servant at the San Fernando Magistrate's Court where he took notes for Magistrate Churchill Johnson, Magistrate Errol Roopnarine, and Magistrate Noor Mohamed Hassanali, who would go on to be the President of Trinidad and Tobago during Panday's term as prime minister.
In 1957, Panday left Trinidad and Tobago to go to the United Kingdom to further his education. He obtained a diploma in drama from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960 and a degree in law in 1962 from Inns of Court School of Law where he was a member of Lincoln's Inn and was subsequently called to the bar. He also received a Bachelor of Science from the University of London as an external student in 1965, majoring in economics and minoring in political science. While in the United Kingdom, Panday worked as a laborer on a building site, a clerk at the London County Council, and an electrician to support himself through university. He also appeared in several acting roles, including "Nine Hours to Rama" (1963), "The Winston Affair" (1964), and "The Brigand of Kandahar" (1965). In 1965, he was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to go to the Delhi School of Economics in India to pursue a post-graduate degree in economics and political science; however, he turned down the offer and returned to Trinidad and Tobago in 1965 to practice law because of family commitments and the changing political situation in the newly independent Trinidad and Tobago.
Political career.
Early years.
Panday's political career began in 1965, when he joined the Workers and Farmers Party and made an unsuccessful run for Parliament. In 1972, he was appointed as an opposition senator for the Democratic Labour Party. The following year he was recruited to the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Union. He staged an internal coup, becoming the union's President General and under him the union expanded to workers from a variety of industries and became the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union.
On 8 February 1975, amidst the backdrop of labour struggles, Panday met with fellow union leaders George Weekes and Raffique Shah. Together, they founded the United Labour Front. All three were arrested on 18 March during an attempted march from San Fernando to Port of Spain, but were found not guilty on 22 April "on the charge of leading a public march without permission".
Panday won the Couva North seat in the 1976 general election, becoming an MP and official opposition leader. The next year the party split into two factions and Panday was ousted as party leader in favour of Shah. He was reinstated in 1978 after Winston Nanan, who previously supported Shah, defected to Panday and Shah resigned.
Following a poor performance in the 1980 local elections, Panday co-founded the Trinidad and Tobago National Alliance with A. N. R. Robinson of the Democratic Action Congress and Lloyd Best of the Tapia House Group. He retained his seat in the 1981 general election.
In 1984 the National Alliance became the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) and in 1985 merged with the Organisation for National Reconstruction. They won a decisive victory in 1986. Panday was named Minister of External Affairs and International Trade. The party soon fractured along racial lines; Panday accused Robinson and the government of discrimination against Indians and autocratic rule. Robinson reshuffled his cabinet in response, and Panday found himself with reduced ministerial responsibilities. The infighting continued, culminating with Panday, Kelvin Ramnath, and Trevor Sudama being expelled from the party on 8 February 1988.
UNC, Prime Ministership, and electoral crises.
Panday and the other expelled ministers founded the Caucus for Love, Unity and Brotherhood (CLUB '88), which he revealed in October would become the United National Congress (UNC) on 30 April 1989. Economic decline, austerity, racial tensions and, above all, the failed but impactful 1990 coup attempt led to the NAR being swept out of power in the 1991 general election and the UNC, led by Panday, becoming official opposition.
The 1995 general election was a defining moment in Panday's career. The ruling PNM party called an early vote, expecting a victory. However, the election ended with the PNM and UNC holding 17 seats each, and the NAR holding 2. The UNC and NAR entered a coalition, thereby bringing the UNC into power and making Panday the first Hindu and Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1995 Panday was charged with five counts of sexual indecency related to a harassment case brought by a former female supporter, however he was freed less than two weeks after the 1995 election in what was seen as a politically motivated charge.
Panday once again led the UNC to victory in the 2000 election, being sworn in as prime minister for a second time. In 2001, UNC MPs Ramesh Maharaj, Trevor Sudama, and Ralph Maraj alleged government corruption, pressuring Panday to appoint a Commission of Inquiry; Panday responded by firing Maharaj. Sudama and Maraj then resigned, leaving the UNC with a minority. Panday was thus forced to call a new election. The 2001 general election resulted in an unprecedented 18–18 tie between the UNC and PNM, sparking a constitutional crisis over who should form government. Both parties agreed to abide by the decision of the president, A.N.R. Robinson, as to who would lead the government, as well as to form a unity government. However, Panday reneged on the agreement when Robinson appointed PNM leader Patrick Manning, finding his explanation for doing so (Manning's "moral and spiritual values") unsatisfactory. Panday also argued that Robinson did not act in accordance with the constitution by choosing Manning, as he did not hold the majority in parliament. He refused to accept the position of Leader of the Opposition in protest.
Parliament was dissolved and new elections were called in 2002 after it was unable to elect a Speaker. This time the PNM were brought back into power with the UNC playing opposition. Panday's third term as Leader of the Opposition would last until 2006, when he was convicted of failing to declare a bank account in London.
Secret investigations into Panday began after the 2001 election, when the Central Authority and the Anti Corruption Bureau was set up by the PNM. On 18 September 2002, Panday was charged under section 27(1)(b) of the Integrity in Public Life Act No. 8 of 1987 for failing to declare the contents of a bank account in London for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. During the investigation, he had first stated that the funds in the account were for his children's education and that his name was added to the account to prevent problems should something happen to his wife. He did not consider the funds his own, and thus did not declare them. However, after receiving further information from the bank, he stated that the account had been opened jointly with his wife to deposit money for his open heart surgery. After his wife transferred the account to another branch she maintained and administered it, and his name remained on it out of convenience. Panday blamed it on the PNM for trying to derail him weeks before the 2002 general election was to be held.
UNC leadership and power struggles.
On 31 May 2005, Panday, his wife, Oma, former UNC MP Carlos John, and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh (chairman of Northern Construction Limited) were arrested on corruption charges. The State alleged that the Pandays had received TT$250,000 on 30 December 1998, from John and Galbaransingh in exchange for giving Northern Construction a construction contract for the Piarco Airport Development Project (PADP). Panday, Oma Panday and John were placed on TT$750,000 bail, while Galbaransingh's bail was placed at TT$1,000,000. Panday refused bail and chose to remain in prison. This was called a punitive bail both by supporters of the UNC and by former Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj, a sometimes political opponent of Panday. On 7 June 2005, bail was reduced to TT$650,000. A day later, Panday accepted bail after being jailed for over a week. Charges were later dropped in 2012.
In September 2005, during the UNC internal elections, Panday nominated Winston Dookeran as his successor as party leader. He himself retained the position of chairman. The following month, Jack Warner called for Panday to hand over the position of Leader of the Opposition to Dookeran as well. Panday failed to do so, and with the Opposition MPs split 8–8 on the issue, Panday remained as the leader of the Opposition.
In October, Panday also invited Ramesh Maharaj back into the UNC. In February 2006, Panday fired senator Robin Montano, who opposed Maharaj's return to the party. Three days later senator Roy Augustus resigned. He replaced Montano with Tim Gopeesingh, and Augustus with former Olympic athlete Ato Boldon.
On 24 April 2006, Panday was found guilty on all three counts he was charged with back in 2002, and sentenced to two years with hard labour and a TT$20,000 fine. He was also denied bail, and ordered to pay the sum in the account "for each year he was charged for not making the declaration". He appealed the decision. Following his 2006 conviction, Panday's position as Leader of the Opposition was revoked. He was replaced by Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
On 3 January 2007, Panday was reinstated as leader of the UNC. On 20 March 2007, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction against Panday, based on the possibility that he may not have received a fair trial. A new trial under a different magistrate was ordered. The three Court of Appeal judges agreed that there was, in fact, a real possibility of bias by the