Basdeo Panday, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (died 2024)

Basdeo Panday was a Trinidadian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor, 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.

The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of the executive branch of government in Trinidad and Tobago. Following a general election, which takes place every five years, the president appoints as prime minister the person who has the support of a majority in the House of Representatives; this has generally been the leader of the party which won the most seats in the election.