MICKELA CRANKS UP

MICKELA Panday is mobilising political support through cottage meetings.

Ms. Panday, who heads Patriotic Front, has held several meetings, including one in the Toco-Sangre Grande constituency that was reportedly well received.

Several others are planned, especially in swing constituencies.

She is advocating issues of her later illustrious father Basdeo Panday, such as social and economic equity, national unity and constitutional reform.

An attendee at a meeting said: “I was impressed with what I heard.”

Patriotic Front was formed before the 2020 general election but Ms. Panday decided against contesting that poll.

In October 2022, she said the party will contest the 2025 election, adding that the country is looking for hope and a new vision.

She said then: “We continue to look on year after year for creative solutions from our elected officials but that seems like an elusive dream.”

She stated that the vision of Patriotic Front is “to create a safe, knowledge-based society with a globally competitive, technologically-driven and diverse economy.”

Ms. Panday’s national profile surged amid her father’s death last January.

She was credited for her aplomb at a time of grief and her grace toward the nation in mourning.

She stated then that she will continue her father’s legacy.

That legacy, she said, included advocating for the poor and powerless.

In the past few years, there has been national focus on Mr. Panday’s political plans.

Ms. Panday, an attorney, was Member of Parliament for Oropouche West from 2027 to 2010.

With her cranking up for the general election, there is sure to be speculation about possible alliances with other anti-PNM political parties.

Political observers say the upcoming poll is her best chance of converting public support into political capital.