"I didn't suspend anybody from a radio station": Manning

Prime Minister Patrick Manning is not prepared to take nonsense from the media. And he said he will be guided by "the spirit" in his future actions. Manning's comments were made Thursday in response to the national debate over his visit to a radio station to personally complain about a broadcast that was critical of him and his policies.

And he said he would do it again “If the spirit moves me”. He made it clear that "if ever I am aggrieved by anything the media does in the future, I am going to the courts.”

Manning has faced a criticism from the media, politicians and the public in general for showing up at 94.1fm studios in Port of Spain to complain about two broadcasters who were critical of his policies of putting up the price of premium gas and his suggestion that people should switch their vehicles to LNG.

The station agreed with Manning and suspended the two, saying there had breached station policy.

“First of all, I didn’t suspend anybody from a radio station," he explained to reporters at his post-cabinet news conference.

“If individuals were suspended from a radio station, it was purely internal and a management issue that has absolutely nothing to do with the Prime Minister. The second issue, therefore, is whether it is proper for the PM to visit a radio station or not."

He said nothing was "wrong" about his action. “If it is proper for a citizen of T&T to visit a radio station, then it cannot be improper for the PM as a citizen of T&T to do the same—unless of course, there are rights available to every citizen in T&T except the PM of the country. That, of course, cannot be so.”

He dismissed the suggestion that because of his stature he sent a wrong signal that could have been seen as an attempt to intimidate the media. That's how the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) and opposition leader Basdeo Panday interpreted Manning's visit to the station.

He said he went there and spoke with "those in authority" about what had happened. He said he told the station's management he was making no complaint and expected no redress "because expecting redress from the media is asking too much. I told them that.”

Manning said he doesn't listen to the station and what happened to its staff had nothing to do with him. "You run the radio station, I run the country—together with my Cabinet colleagues,” he said.

Manning said he doesn't believe it makes good political sense to attack the media. “The traditional and conventional wisdom in the PNM is if we raise these matters publicly, yes we may have a point, but eventually we can pay a political price for raising it,” he said.

He denied that any of the country's 34 radio stations, seven television stations and three daily newspapers had a pro-government agenda. And he charged that "too many of the commentators either in the newspapers or on the radio do not respect our institutions.”

On the specific issue of his visit to the radio station Manning said he is taking legal action against a weekly newspaper for describing his action as "storming" into the station. He said the report that he stormed out of a barber salon in San Fernando to go directly to the station to complain was just not true, adding that he stopped at the station on his way home.

He agreed that there are other options for handling his concerns about media reports including going to the Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT). That organization said earlier in the week that its mandate does njot give it the power to take any action in cases such as the one that has generated so much national debate.