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Mickela Panday – File photo
Patriotic Front political leader Mickela Panday has responded to criticisms about where she has been for the last nine years.
In a public Facebook post on Friday, Panday said those afraid of the tsunami of change coming to rid the country of the darkness suffocating it, surfaced, and were asking where she was for the last nine years.
On May 25, Panday announced that her party would contest all 41 seats in the upcoming general elections.
In Friday’s post, she said it was a shame they had not been following her since 2007, when she first became an MP.
“It would have saved them a lot of trouble. No worry, it’s never too late,” she posted.
Panday then clarified that she had not been in government or opposition for the last 14 years and had no political power or access to the treasury.
“I did not make any promises to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and break them over and over again. I did not fail to get rid of the property tax after promising to do so,” she said.
Over years, Panday said she worked on the ground with youth and the society’s vulnerable, people kicked off state land to give to big business and farmers who took water from Caroni River to save their dying crops.
She added she worked for children whom society forgot and left in children’s homes, throughout TT, with no hope for the future.
“I was speaking out for victims of domestic violence, gender-based violence and advocating tirelessly for a missing persons unit. I was with the flood victims and victims of brutal crime, and so much more,” Panday said.
She then responded to the critics, asking them to worry about where the Government and Opposition were.
She then posed ten questions that people should put to both political parties such as why people still did not have a regular supply of water, why the country was spending billions on importing food that people could not afford and why houses were still being allocated on the basis of a losing lottery system.
She called on people to be brave, not biased and to hold all accountable if they genuinely loved TT.
On Wednesday, Panday said she had had no talks with United National Congress’ (UNC) Mayaro MP Rushton Paray about his political future.
This came after comments were made by UNC’s political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar about the similarity of names with Paray’s slate for the UNC’s internal elections and Panday’s political party.
