Basdeo Panday was defeated as UNC leader last month. *Photo credit: cananews.net

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Less than two weeks after he lost the leadership of the United National Congress (UNC), which he formed 20 years ago, Basdeo Panday on Tuesday suffered another blow when his constituency executive abandoned him, resigning en masse.

To make matters worse for Panday, a former prime minister, the members of the UNC’s Couva North executive announced their support for the party’s new leader, Kamla Persad Bissessar.

“We found it very difficult to mobilise people for the internal elections to vote for Mr Panday. Although we transported voters to the polling stations, they went and voted for Kamla,” said the chairman of the constituency executive, Orlando Nagessar.

“We felt as a matter of principle to allow Mr Panday to get a new constituency executive. It was a unanimous decision to sign the letter (of resignation). It was a very agonising decision but we felt as an executive that the situations that have arisen during the last few months compelled us to do it,” he said.

Nagessar said over the years, the executive’s loyalty and allegiance to Panday has been unequivocal, but noted in the 2007 general election, 5,000 people voted against the former prime minister.

Nagessar, a former Mayor of the Borough of Chaguanas, a UNC stronghold, said he was also urging all the party’s constituency executives to accept the election results on January 24 that brought Persad-Bissessar, a one-time attorney general to the top position of the party.

“We must accept the will of the people,” said Nagessar, as he publicly pledged his support for the 57-year-old lawyer.

“The people have spoken by secret ballot, let us wipe out wounds and march forward to unity. Today I call on all, including the political leader, to accept the election results.”

Persad-Bissessar on Monday launched a “Meet The Constituents” tour, with the first stop being Panday’s constituency, even though the former prime minister said he was not aware of the meeting.

Persad-Bissessar has said that she is in no hurry to push Panday out of the position of Opposition Leader, but her supporters have made it clear that the 76 year-old former UNC leader must he quickly step down gracefully or face the prospect of having to be moved out through a vote of no confidence.

Panday has so far made no comment on the resignation of the executive members of his constituency.