If former prime minister Basdeo Panday had his way, all lawyers who wanted to enter politics will have to spend some time in prison “voluntary or otherwise.”
Panday was honoured for his 50 years of legal service at the Law Association’s annual dinner and dance on Friday night at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, and said he believed that all lawyers should “go to jail” in order to better empathise with their clients. While his 20-minute contribution focused on his past as a lawyer, his own arrests and life as a politician, Panday took some time to criticise the current state of political affairs.
He said when he looked at the “huge army” of young lawyers and the “political mess the country is in,” he remembered the words “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Panday was honoured alongside fellow attorney Nath Sharma who also marked 50 years in the legal fraternity. Sharma said when he looked at Panday, he realised that he (Panday) “had 50 years” again to contribute. “Whether as a lawyer or in politics,” Sharma said.