Silver Fox Who Dared Lions – former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday – Passes On

He would be known as the Silver Fox who dared Lions. Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, the boy from the impoverished canefields of South Trinidad who has indelibly altered the political landscape of the Commonwealth and the Caribbean as Trinidad and Tobago’s fifth Prime Minister died at age 90 on New Years Day, 2024.

As condolence pour in from all quarters, I extend sympathies to his family and friends and the many whose lives he touched in his long and distinguished life from our village district where he got his start.

First IndoTrinidadian Prime Minister

Panday was the first Prime Minister of indentured Indian immigrants to become Prime Minister and considerably transformed the socio-cultural political arena of the British Commonwealth.

Local Legend

From our small village in rural Trinidad, Panday became a local legend as a champion of the labouring class and particularly the large IndoTrinidadian populations who worked in the sugar canefields, which would resonate across the Caribbean and the British diaspora even before his career path took him into politics.

Last Moments

Panday’s daughter Mickela, who has followed him into politics announced that he was surrounded by his family in his last moments.

“In life and death he was a fighter. He passed with his boots on, keeping everybody around him on their toes with his wit and humour. He will live on in all of us, remembered as a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, leader, and friend. He was an inspiration to his family and everybody that knew him. We will continue to celebrate his life and treasure the time we were able to spend with him. ”

– Mikela Panday on the passing of Basdeo Panday.

Leaders of the United National Congress

Panday was succeeded as Prime Minister by Patrick Manning, and as political leader of the United National Congress by Kamla Persad-Bissessar who became the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and whose rise to Prime Ministership is captured in my book Through the Political Glass Ceiling – Race To Prime Ministership by Trinidad and Tobago’s First Female. Find out more about this here and make contact for orders.

Man and Myths

I would share more about the man and his myths from village folk hero to global leader, and anecdotes of his leadership and participation in national life from my journalese, research, archives and friends and family in the coming days and suggestions on how he may be remembered.

For now, see my tribute to him on his 90th Birthday in this post:

About Dr Kris Rampersad

Dr Kris Rampersad is an independent International Global thought leader, scholar, award-winning journalist, multimedia innovator and development specialist on SIDS and the Global South.

She was a Commonwealth Professional Fellow and has served as former Vice President of the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association, President of UNESCO Education Commission, Vice President of UNESCO Programme and External Relations Commission and Vice President of the Consultative Body of UNESCO InterGovernmental Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Media Specialist/Adviser to the Commonwealth Foundation.

Dr Kris Rampersad invented the world’s newest creative genre, the MultiMedia MicroEpic that adopts and adapts the long-form classical epic for short-form new media which she piloted to the Commonwealth Scholars Forum at the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Her web platform, the GloCaL Knowledge Pot features her developing multimedia expositions of CEIBA-EDUtainment, novel creations that blend education and entertainment for all ages and sectors from pre-school to policy-making through traditional, conventional and new media forms. Dr Rampersad is a National Geographic Educator, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Facilitator, Global Woman Techmakers’ Ambassador, Google Digital Skills Ambassador and Small Island Innovators’ Ambassador. Internationally, she has served variously as President of the UNESCO Education Commission, Vice President of UNESCO Programme and External Relations Commission, Vice President and Independent Member of the Consultative Body to the InterGovernmental Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Vice President of the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association. More at this link:

https://krisrampersad.com/explore-our-world/who-we-are/dr-kris-rampersad-connecting-glocal-cultures/