PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Former prime minister Basdeo Panday was Wednesday night reinstated as political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) during a meeting of the party's national executive.

The recalled political leader, in accepting the executive's call to return to the helm of the fractured opposition party, said one of his first missions would be to get the UNC ready for general election which is constitutionally due by November 2007.

Panday, who will fill the leadership void created when former party leader Winston Dookeran left the UNC to form his own Congress of the People last September, said he was immediately extending the olive branch to anyone who wanted to return to the fold.

"I know that several mistakes have been made in the past, we shall not hold that against anyone. We must open our arms to those who wish to come back home. But you must be prepared to be united and disciplined," he said.

He told the media gathered at Rienzi Complex that he had given much thought to reclaiming the leadership position and the matter, "has traumatised me for so long".

"I have decided that I will accept the recommendations of the national executive," Panday said following the meeting.

Whirlpool of confusion

"Having recently been out of the country and away from the national whirlpool of confusion that characterises political life in Trinidad and Tobago, I have had the opportunity to think deeply about the request of the National Executive of the UNC and supporters that I resume, if only on a temporary basis, the political leadership of the party until the party elects a political leader in accordance with its constitution," he said.

Panday, who is currently out on bail, was convicted last year for failing to declare several London bank accounts to the Integrity Commission.

He said he was convinced that his court matters would not impede his party's return to power or victory at the upcoming polls.