Current and former media practitioners say Basdeo Panday had a tumultuous relationship with the media, especially when he was Prime Minister but, as an individual, he remained personable.
Panday, the country’s fifth PM, who served from 1995-2001, died on Monday.
Sunity Maharaj, Independent Senator, former journalist and managing director of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies said TT mourned the passing of a leader who stirred the passions of sugar workers and held out the hope of bridging the divides between people.
As president of the Media Association of TT (MATT) in the early part of Panday’s tenure as PM, Maharaj said as a labour and political leader with a base in south-central Trinidad, when he took office in 1995 there was a real opportunity for engaging a transformational process but he missed it.
“As with so much else, Basdeo Panday’s relationship with the media was mercurial. One minute he would be on a platform denouncing the media and calling for a boycott; the other he would be fielding interviews and chuckling with journalists.
“He was never one to duck the media. As a master of the quip, wit and verbal whip, he had the confidence to handle any question, whether or not he actually answered it.
“The confrontation that developed between the media and PM Panday early in his administration remains a period for investigation, clinical research and analysis. As the then president of the MATT and a staffer at the Trinidad Guardian, which was in the eye of that storm, I’ve had many years to review the quite mysterious trajectory of that particular episode in the nation’s life. However, that discussion is for another day and time.”
In 1996, the Guardian ran a photo of Panday with a drink and the headline "Chutney Rising" on the front page. His response was to call for a boycott of the paper, barring Guardian reporters from accessing government information, and calling on then editor-in-chief Jones P Madeira to be fired.
The next year, the government published a green paper called Reform of Media Law – Towards a Free and Responsible Media. Part of the bill called for a High Court judge to be given the power to hear complaints about civil wrongs committed by the media and to punish those who disobeyed the judge’s orders.
Many media personnel criticised the green paper and there was even a large demonstration in Port of Spain against it. The bill lapsed in October 2001.
Maxie Cuffie, former MATT president and former minister of Public Administration and Communications said he was from Caroni and his father was a cane farmer so he understood Panday’s struggles, where he came from and where he wanted to go.
As a result, he personally had an excellent relationship with Panday and they would message each other on WhatsApp on occasion.
Cuffie told Newsday as president of MATT during the height of the green paper on the media, he requested a meeting with Panday to discuss his relationship with the media. Panday agreed to meet with the association almost immediately.
“I think Mr Pand
