UNC: Saith trying to save face

SENATE Opposition Lea-der Wade Mark yesterday said Public Administration Minis-ter Dr Lenny Saith was trying to save face by stating that Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal was right in voting against the Government during Tuesday’s sitting of the Upper House. Baboolal ruled in favour of the Opposition and Indepen-dent Senators, after Saith (Leader of Government Business in the Senate) moved that two Caricom bills be debated simultaneously. The Opposition and Independent benches both argued that the bills were too weighty and should be debated separately. At Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference, Saith said Baboolal acted correctly in making that ruling.

However, Mark claimed that Saith made that remark to cover up his own embarrassment and faux pas. The UNC chairman declared that Baboolal did the right thing, her decision was “a democratic slap” in the face of the Government and it showed that Parliament was not a rubber stamp. According to Mark, it was a known fact that the PNM has been attempting to bulldoze its way on many issues and throw long-established democratic traditions out the window. He accused Saith of being the “chief culprit” in these alleged machinations of the Govern-ment. Recalling the Opposition’s one-time concerns about the independence of the Chair, Mark declared that the UNC will “give no room and no quarter” to anyone who attempts to railroad the democratic process in Trinidad and Tobago.