"Political opponents, but never enemies."
So said former prime minister Basdeo Panday of his political colleague, former prime minister Patrick Manning.
Panday, who returned from abroad last week, spoke about Manning, who died on July 2 at the San Fernando General Hospital. He had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare, aggressive cancer of the blood. Manning was laid to rest on July 9 following a state funeral.
Manning and Panday who had respectively led the Peoples' National Movement (PNM) and United National Congress (UNC), holding office at periods between 1991 and 2010, were the leading political figures of that period, facing battle with each other when they held government and opposition positions at various periods. Towards the end of their political careers, they also faced similar internal issues in their parties.
Panday, who was abroad when he received word of Manning's death, said, "I'd known for some time his health was deteriorating. My daughter and his son speak often, but when I heard of his death, I was shocked since I didn't know he was ailing so badly.
"I had seen him at a Presentation College reunion a few years ago and went to the hospital to see him when he had his stroke in 2012. He knew it was me even though he couldn't speak, but I hadn't see him since."
Noting the high accolades for Manning after he died, Panday said, "T&T people wait until you die to say things, we're a nation of hypocrites."
While not admitting to shedding tears, Panday said, "The death of any human being is a loss to all humanity, like all of us he did what he thought was right.
"There wasn't a level of mudslinging, the reasons being he had his political view and I had mine. They may have coincided at some time, but they were different."
Any regrets? "Not really, we both did what we thought was necessary, we may not have always been right. It's easy to look backwards but at the time, you take the best decision you can including influences by all kinds of forces around and the circumstances you're in."
'T&T's politics is racist'
Asked if he felt Manning was a "racist" as SDMS leader Sat Maharaj claimed, Panday said, "The politics of T&T is about race and has been for a very long time.
It's very difficult to distinguish whether a decision is political or racist as they're sometimes identical. The politics has alway been identified with race and vice versa and sometimes the two are indistinguishable. When one takes a decision, some may say it's racist, others say political, but T&T's politics is racist."
He said there were some PNM decisions which turned out to be discriminatory, but decisions may have been "political or racist or both."
"But I found him to be quite pleasant as a person and we got along very well at the personal level. At the parliamentary level, we argued different points and had different views. It didn't degenerate to a low level or race.
"The Constitution of T&T in a society that is demographically divided as it is, is bound to encourage the politics of race. But it isn't fair to the people, T&T or the politicians.
"The only way forward is to change the Constitution. But neither the Prime Minister or Opposition leader want constitutional reform. If the Constitution continues in present form, the PNM could win the 2020 election."
'Moonilal does not have political know-how'
Noting the UNC lost the Rienzi Complex which was the party's home under his leadership, Panday said the UNC will remain in opposition for 15 years if it contested the 2020 polls under the present leadership. He also did not think MP Roodal Moonilal could "do it."
"He doesn't have the political know-how and attitude. It takes quite a combination to lead a party successfully. I don't think he has it. The party can only rise again if members have free, fair polls."
On whether his daughter Mickela would take up the baton, he said that was a matter for her.
For now, Panday is working on his book and watching how his one-time associate Donald Trump–who staged the 1999 Miss Universe pageant under Panday's tenure–fares in the US Presidential polls.
"I'll never give up the political struggle. It would be treasonous not to attempt to make my country a better place. I guess Mr Manning felt the same."
Panday, 83, added, "I intend to be around for a long time."