Kamla: Extraordinary PNM incompetence

However Persad-Bissessar said she found Al-Rawi’s explanation about the reason for the sitting to be “out of this world.” She accused Al-Rawi of trying “to remove the egg from his face,” by claiming the mistake was one made by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) and the Office of the President.Saying that she has been involved in the selection of five election dates during her tenure as prime minister, Persad- Bissessar said the President does not determine election dates in TT. As she recalled that former prime minister Patrick Manning (deceased) often used to talk about having the election date “in his back pocket,” Persad-Bissessar quipped, “The election date is determined by the Prime Minister.”
Saying she “was cooking” at home when she received the summons for yesterday’s sitting, Persad-Bissessar wondered why an extraordinary sitting could not have been held to deal with rising murders in TT or with giving internal self government to Tobago.”

She questioned whether this was a case of lawmaker becoming lawbreaker. Referring to the recently passed Marriage Bill being converted from special majority to simple majority legislation, Persad-Bissessar asked Al-Rawi what kind of majority was needed to pass the THA Validation Bill. After calling on Al-Rawi to apologise to the country, Persad-Bissessar said while the United National Congress (UNC) is “totally out” of Monday’s THA election, she was advising Tobagonians to, “vote anybody except the PNM.”

On a lighter note, Persad- Bissessar praised Finance Minister Colm Imbert as “a brilliant man” and claimed the Government was “running on the brain power of the Member for Diego Martin North/East (Imbert).” Imbert looked on with amusement as Persad- Bissessar claimed he told her he was “large and in charge.” Opposition MPs laughed when Persad-Bissessar quipped she would only agree with the idea of Imbert being, “in charge.”