NO DECISION has been taken as yet on writing to the President to have Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday's appointment revoked, UNC political leader Winston Dookeran said Tuesday.
Dookeran however, maintained that he wanted to be appointed Leader of the Opposition.
Almost one month after being elected as the new political leader of the UNC, taking over from Panday, Dookeran said: "I think it is only natural that one, in order to lead the UNC, I should be given the appropriate resources to do so, and in that sense I would continue to have the necessary dialogue to be able to achieve that."
OPPOSITION LEADER POSITION
Dookeran has been denied the position of Opposition Leader held by Panday.
UNC sources have said that Panday was supposed to give up that position to Dookeran as well. But only last week Panday insisted he was not ready to do that.
Contacted for comment on the latest developments in the party, Dookeran said the statements by Panday and former UNC deputy political leader Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj would only serve to further divide the party.
LONG RUN BENEFIT
Dookeran said since being elected political leader he had been "trying to deal with the issues as they emerged in order to discharge my primary role, which was to create a new opportunity for the party to transform itself and for the country to create a political alternative so the country will benefit in the long run".
He said he wanted to do that by the introduction of "new
politics".
Dookeran said he saw the latest developments within the party "as obstacles that have been in my path as I proceed on that road and I would have to handle them as they come along."
"The secret desire of our people is to return this country to a politics that will inspire them and will protect their interests, and I feel that the politics of the past is something that the people are about to depart from," Dookeran added.
He said that was his inspiration for moving forward.
Told that more UNC MPs were likely to join Gerald Yetming on the back bench in Parliament soon, as a show of support for his leadership, Dookeran said: "The impact of what Mr. Maharaj and Mr. Panday are suggesting now, will be to further divide the party (and) I would have to watch the situation and hope that does not happen."
- Trinidad Express
