By Sue-Ann Wayow
POLITICALLY persecuted for more than two decades, the United National Congress (UNC) stands strong as the corruption case against its founder and former leader Basdeo Panday was discontinued.
The UNC political leader who took over the party’s leadership from Panday in 2010, Kamla Persad-Bissessar said for years, the People’s National Movement (PNM) has been gearing an unsuccessful “smear campaign” towards the UNC for decades.
But the party will not be forced into a corner, she declared.
Speaking at the UNC Monday night forum at Endeavour, Chaguanas, Persad-Bissessar spoke highly of her predecessor describing the case being withdrawn as good news.
The Piarco International Airport corruption case against Panday, his wife Oma, former government minister Carlos John and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh was discontinued following advice from Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC on Monday.
Mentioning other issues involving UNC officials including Emailgate and LifeSport, Persad-Bissessar said even though matters were won in courts and cleared by police, the public still believed the PNM’s propaganda.
“Imagine these men up and down in courthouse for 25 years and today, cases have collapsed. Everytime you go to court, big picture in the paper, big UNC crook, look, look,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said even before Panday could have formed the government in 1995, the PNM was already trying to discredit him.
Panday was charged on five counts of sexual indecency related to a harassment case brought by a former female supporter but was found not guilty after the general election.
Persad-Bissessar said, “He went in there with that hanging on his neck to become Prime Minister… and the magistrate in the matter did not give his judgment before the election. He waited till after the election to say the man not guilty.”
She also produced a document titled, The Harassment of the Honourable Basdeo Panday a report conducted by the Center for the Study of Harrassment of African Americans in Washington.
The document dated April 1995 states, “The undeniable conclusion of the Centre is that Mr Panday is the subject of political and legal harrassment and intimidation with a view to destroying his credibility and leadership position.”
Persad-Bissessar said, “They (PNM) will come again. The Emailgate fabrications exposed today. When Panday was there they came with the Airport corruption scandal, case collapsed today. And more to come. The Piarco cases from the Panday era, it has played out year after year, decade after decade on PNM political platform to smear and scandalise and slander the UNC.”
“The case was never meant to succeed in court. Instead, all it was meant to do was drag out as long as possible to have the UNC seem as corrupt people,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also mentioned Section 34 which she said was a “spin-off” from the Piarco case.
The amended clause to Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill 2011 introduced by former Justice Minister Herbert Volney now deceased stated, “A Judge shall on an application by the accused, discharge the accused and record a verdict of not guilty if the offence is alleged to have been committed on a date that is ten years or more before the date of the application.”
Persad-Bissessar said, “I want to say very clearly. I have nothing more to apologise on the Section 34 matter. That is another one, they keep spinning all the time… Not one single being in Trinidad and Tobago escaped from a court of law because of Section 34, not one.”
She said she removed the clauses from the bill that were deemed vulgar.
