I’m no Hulsie or Ramesh!

Following a heated exchange with UNC Leader Basdeo Panday, Pointe-a-Pierre Member of Parliament Gillian Lucky stormed out of Thursday night’s UNC parliamentary caucus shortly after she made it clear that she was no Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj or Hulsie Bhaggan, and that she would stay and fight from within the party. Lucky’s statements came after Panday attempted to censure her for signing the Privileges Committee Report on the tearoom brawl between UNC’s Chandresh Sharma and PNM’s Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Lucky signed the report, but her colleague Subhas Panday did not.

Lucky was taken to task by the UNC leader, according to sources. Sources said Panday reportedly told Lucky that politics had a morality of its own, and that if her integrity were more important than politics, she should leave politics. He also told her that she should learn to be a team player. He said that her professional integrity could not always come first. Lucky responded by stating that persons in the UNC had been labelled thieves and all sorts of names, and she stood for principle and integrity. She reportedly stated: “I stand by the report (of the Privileges Committee) and I have no intention of compromising my integrity. And I will not leave the UNC because I am not Hulsie Bhaggan (former MP) or (former AG) Ramesh Maharaj. I intend to stay and fight within. I am here to do a job and to fight for what is right, and to stick to my principles.”

Lucky, who rose from her seat  to reply to her leader, slammed her hand as well as hit the folder she was holding, several times on the table during her fiery response. Sources said Panday was stunned. He left the meeting after the exchange. The matter did not end there, however. As Panday was being interviewed by members of the media, Lucky’s voice was heard coming from the caucus chamber, shouting: “I am going! I am going! I stand for integrity!” She yanked the door open, almost knocking over surprised members of the media. The stone-faced MP barely glanced at Panday as she walked to her car. Asked by the media what had  happened, Panday referred all questions to caucus chairman, Ganga Singh. Seconds later, MPs Roodal Moonilal, Dr Fuad Khan and Senator Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan emerged from the room, running after Lucky. They urged her to cool down and encouraged her to return, which she did.

On their re-entry to the caucus chamber, sources told Newsday the meeting got “even hotter.” Many persons started supporting the stance adopted by the Pointe-a-Pierre MP, who had argued that an examination of the evidence to the Privileges Committee substantiated her position (to sign). Some conceded that there were irreconcilable conflicts in the evidence given by UNC MPs Sharma, Kelvin Ramnath and Moonilal. At that point, Subhas Panday, the other UNC member on the Privileges Committee, commented on the inconsistencies in the evidence given by the three MPs, reportedly saying that he was embarrassed by it. Another senior MP stated that he saw nothing wrong with the report. Lucky expressed disappointment that more of her colleagues did not step forward earlier in the name of truth. She called them cowards. She stated that they had to stand for principle.

Lucky also told the caucus that a British Parliament would have been much harsher. She said if she were in the British Parliament she would have had to tell Sharma that he had not been totally truthful with the committee about what transpired between himself and Rowley. Sources also stated that during Thursday’s meeting, MP Ramnath made some disparaging remarks about tearoom attendant, Prabha Singh, who was described by the Privileges Committee as the only independent witness, and on whose testimony the committee had heavily relied. Lucky then told him to shut up. Asked by Newsday yesterday about the clash, all UNC leader Panday was prepared to say was, “It is an internal party matter and the party has a right to deal with matters internally.”

Asked about the matter on Thursday night, Ganga Singh sought to play down the issue, saying: “Gillian was in the meeting and Gillian returned to the meeting. She was in the meeting, members leave and come to and from the meeting, and Gillian contributed subsequently to the meeting.” Asked if Lucky was grilled about her signing of the Privileges Committee Report, Singh said the Point-a-Pierre MP was “exercising her privilege as a member of the committee, having regard to the evidence before her.” Efforts to contact Lucky proved futile yesterday. Sources also stated that Lucky signed the report days after a March 15 meeting of the Privileges Committee at which all committee members had agreed to sign based on the verbatim minutes. This predated a mandate which was given by a UNC caucus (on March 23) that its MPs on the Privileges Committee should not sign. Lucky was not present at that caucus.