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  • 2 years ago
After several years, former Minister in the Basdeo Panday Administration, Carlos John, is breaking his silence on a number of issues. These include the Piarco Airport corruption case in which he and Mr. Panday were charged and the United National Congress' transition of leadership that took place in 2010.


He also speculates on what could happen for the next General Election.


Alicia Boucher has more in Part 2 of this exclusive TV6 interview.
Transcript
00:00 In 1989, Basdeo Pandey founded the United National Congress, after leaving the National
00:06 Alliance for Reconstruction, which was in power at the time.
00:09 It took him six years to turn the UNC into a force that was able to contest and win the
00:14 general election of 1995, succeeding Patrick Manning as prime minister.
00:20 During his term in office from 1995 to 2001, Pandey embarked on the construction of the
00:26 North Terminal of Pianko International Airport, which involved many players, including international,
00:32 local and subcontractors.
00:34 The project fell under the Works and Transport Ministry, which was headed by then-Minister
00:39 Carlos John.
00:40 It was initially budgeted at $662 million, but was subjected to a $1 billion cost overrun,
00:47 spawning allegations of mass corruption, with as many moving parts as the many players involved,
00:53 leading to four separate cases against the accused.
00:57 John now shares with us his side of the Pianko 3 case, which came to an end in 2023 because
01:03 of inadequate evidence to prosecute.
01:06 It surrounded allegations that Pandey and his wife, Oma Pandey, had received £25,000
01:12 stealing from John and businessman Ishwa Galbraith Singh as a bribe.
01:17 Now, that matter dragged on for some, was it 18 years?
01:24 Two decades.
01:25 Before, you know, the charges were dropped by the DPP, initially.
01:32 Which one you're talking about now?
01:33 Our charges?
01:34 Yes.
01:35 Yeah.
01:36 Right.
01:37 But I don't think I was, I must, for clarification's sake, I'm not trying to be naive, I don't
01:42 think our charges were really linked to the airport.
01:47 It happened around that time.
01:50 My personal transaction, my daughter was going to school in London, and I said, "Oma, I don't,
01:54 boss was not even involved in that."
01:57 As it turned out, I transferred some money for her from, for my daughter who was going
02:01 to school in London because we had to open an account, and she said, "Look, but send
02:05 it to me and I'll get things set up for you."
02:07 It turned out that his name was in the account, but he wasn't involved in this at all.
02:11 It was, I found it was very unfair, but so be it.
02:15 The fact is that behind us, I consider him, in life and in death, a very straightforward
02:24 and honest man.
02:26 Very hardworking, particularly for the underdog, and not interested in anything that is materialistic.
02:36 And I'll go to my grave saying that.
02:38 Apart from the hurt that he says his family suffered at that time, the former politician
02:43 isn't shying away from admitting that the allegations did cause a stain on both of their
02:48 political careers.
02:50 Following the January 24, 2010 internal elections of the UNC, Pandey lost control of the party,
02:57 with Kamala Prasad Bissessa being named his successor.
03:01 Asked if he believes the allegations also affected how the UNC's membership viewed Pandey,
03:06 John responds.
03:07 Yes, that may have been a factor.
03:09 At that time, you know, with the airport scandal and so on, some people were saying, "The brand
03:15 has been tarnished.
03:16 It's time to wipe the slate clean and have someone else at the helm."
03:22 And that's a normal human reaction.
03:24 We accept that.
03:26 But we're talking about the process.
03:28 He says Pandey, who was his mentor and friend, was not at peace with that process.
03:34 He never held the belief that the elections were fairly conducted.
03:40 He felt they were rigged.
03:42 I wasn't that close to the machinery of the party, the bowels of the party, that engine
03:46 room, to comment on whether it's yea or nay.
03:50 But that was his feeling, and it was still his feeling until late in life.
03:54 John believes that his former colleagues attempted to throw the baby out with the bathwater,
03:59 as he puts it, leading to a messy transition from Pandey to Bassad Bissassa.
04:04 He tells us they should have gone into caucus.
04:08 Rather than guys conniving behind his back and signing a letter to the president to say
04:14 we know the majority of support goes to Mrs. Bissassa, I am not saying that the outcome
04:20 would not have been the same.
04:22 I'm saying that the outcome could have been different, but the route could have been different
04:29 as well.
04:30 Subsequently, when Mrs. Bassad Bissassa took over the helm of the party, another feature
04:39 that I didn't like, although it is a prerogative, I thought that she was wrong to slit the political
04:49 throat of Mekeda Pandey, who was the sitting MP for Roe Pouch West, and the political throat
04:57 of his brother, Subhas Pandey, who was the sitting MP for Napa Rima.
05:02 John refers to it as a castration of the Pandeys from the party, and he tells us it did hurt
05:09 the UNC founder a lot.
05:11 I don't feel that's the way you treat anyone, let alone someone who made all of them who
05:17 now enjoy the spoils.
05:20 So I harbored some strong views on that for many years, which I never made public.
05:27 But then I have nothing to lose now.
05:29 Do you have any plans at all to return to politics?
05:31 Absolutely not.
05:33 He's sharing his projections for the next general election, which is due in 2025.
05:38 I'm not a political analyst, but I see Mekeda now gaining some political ascendancy at this
05:46 time.
05:48 Once she maintains that, and I imagine she will be enticed to contest the next general
05:57 election, all the most patriotic front will do for sure will take a good chunk, in my
06:06 view, of the UNC votes.
06:07 Where it will make a difference, though, is in the marginal seats.
06:12 And if she takes those votes, I think Dr. Rowley and Daryl Arfing, and I'm not sure
06:17 if Kamala and Daryl have factored that into the equation, but Mekeda could be a force
06:24 to reckon with.
06:25 But what I'm saying is her presence on the political scene is going to damage the UNC
06:32 more than it will damage the PNM.
06:35 It will help the PNM in the marginal seats.
06:38 Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
06:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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