Richard’s speech sparks debate

Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday that he would be the last person to want to say what a President should say or what he shouldn’t. Saying that the President was perfectly within his right to say what he did at the opening of Parliament yesterday, Manning said the idea of a throne speech — to outline Government’s legislative agenda — had been done away with a long time ago. “Under the constitution he is free to speak and we have no quarrel with whatever he might wish to say,” the Prime Minister said. While Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday didn’t like the speech, Opposition Senator Eastlyn McKenzie loved it and Independent Senator Ramesh Deosaran found it stimulating. Said McKenzie:  “I like honesty. I like people who are genuine.

I like people who don’t sweep things under the carpet. And that is why I like the President’s speech. Everybody shoo-shoo-shooing here and shoo-shoo-shooing there and the minute you bring it to the fore, people feel that you shouldn’t say it.” Asked whether she agreed with the assertion that the President had crossed the line, McKenzie said: “No, no. It don’t have a line. He went to all issues that we are talking about. Politicians, parties, groups, everybody are talking about those issues, so why not he?” Her colleague, Senator Deosaran said everything the President said was a matter of great importance which had certainly set Parliamentarians thinking. He said he planned to relate a lot of what President Richards said to his Budget presentation — public policy for poverty, public policy on crime, equity and income distribution and the question of ethnic polarisation.