FORMER United National Congress (UNC) Chairman Basdeo Panday has rejected proposals put forward by Political Leader Winston Dookeran to unite the party, suggesting instead a leadership council made up of himself and three other leaders.

Panday’s counter proposal is that if the UNC forms the government after the next general election, (constitutionally due next year) the membership of the party will decide who is going to be prime minister.

This was one of the proposals Panday made when he met with Dookeran on Wednesday.

The two leaders were supposed to meet on Saturday, but the meeting was brought forward to Wednesday to give Panday enough time to report back to the executive to determine whether to go ahead with the no-confidence motion when the National Congress meets on August 19.

Sources close to Dookeran see this move by Panday as another plan to “set up” Dookeran, who will not have a chance to take over leadership of the party.

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PANDAY

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The leadership council will be made up of Dookeran, Panday, deputy political leaders Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Jack Warner and former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj

The UNC source said Panday wants to come back as leader of the party.

He is hoping that if he wins his appeal against his jail term and is cleared of the bribery charges, the membership would want him back at the helm.

“That is why Panday is suggesting a leadership council made up of himself but if he loses his cases, he would then want to select another leader from the council and Dookeran would be left out,” a source said.

In their talks, Panday reportedly told Dookeran there are people within the two factions of the party who do not want unity.

After leadership council talks failed, Panday reportedly suggested that he and Dookeran come together with a new team and leave out the trouble-makers in the party and those who are against unity.

Some UNC officials in the Dookeran camp are wondering whether Panday was referring to Persad-Bissessar, Warner and Maharaj as the trouble-makers in the UNC.

“Panday is such a shrewd politician and he is trying his best to frustrate Dookeran with all kinds of ludicrous suggestions for him to get fed-up and leave the party,” another source said.

Sources say that the unity talks on Wednesday, which may be final, did not reach any conclusion.

It would now seem that the executive will be going ahead with its no-confidence motion next Saturday, since UNC deputy political leader Wade Mark has been urging financial members of the party to come out on August l9 for the National Congress.

Only financial members can sanction the vote of no-confidence against Dookeran, giving the executive the green light to expel him.

“They are going to pack the Rienzi Complex (which holds about 2,000 people) with supporters and say the crowd was about 15,000,” one observer noted.

However, the Dookeran camp is arguing that any move to remove Dookeran must be done by 75 per cent of the membership according to the UNC constitution.

“They would have to bring more than 20,000 financial members to take that decision,” one UNC MP said.