Basdeo Panday

The Honourable
Basdeo Panday
The Honourable Basdeo Panday
	Panday in 2008
5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
	In office; 9 November 1995 – 24 December 2001
President	Noor Hassanali; A. N. R. Robinson
Preceded by	Patrick Manning
Succeeded by	Patrick Manning
Prime Minister
Ministerial offices
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 12 January 1987 – 8 February 1988
Prime Minister	A. N. R. Robinson
Preceded by	Errol Mahabir
Succeeded by	Sahadeo Basdeo
Minister of National Security
	In office; 25 January 2001 – 24 December 2001
Prime Minister	Basdeo Panday
Preceded by	Joseph Theodore
Succeeded by	Howard Chin Lee
Preceded by
Parliamentary offices
Member of Parliament; for Couva North
	In office; 13 September 1976 – 24 May 2010
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	Ramona Ramdial
Member of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago
	In office; 15 Sep 1972 – 19 Jun 1976
Personal details
Born	25 May 1933; Coonook, St. Julien, Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago
Died	1 January 2024 (aged 90); Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Party	United National Congress (from 1989; nominally); Patriotic Front (from 2020)
Other political; affiliations	CLUB '88 (1988–1989); National Alliance for Reconstruction (1986–1988); United Labour Front (1975–1986); Workers and Farmers Party (1965–1966); Democratic Labour Party (1957–1965; 1966–1976);
Spouse(s)	Norma Mohammed (died 1981); Oma Ramkissoon
Children	4, including Mickela
Relatives	Subhas Panday (brother); Sam Boodram (brother-in-law)
Education	University of London (BS); Inns of Court School of Law; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art;
Occupation	Politician; lawyer; actor; economist;
Awards	Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2005)
Nickname	The Silver Fox

Basdeo Panday (pronounced [bɑːsəd̪eːoː pɑːⁿɖeː]; 25 May 1933 – 1 January 2024) was a Trinidadian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first Indo-Trinidadian, along with being the first Hindu, to hold the office of prime minister in his country.

Panday was first elected to Parliament in 1976. He served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.

In 2005, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.