PM Kamla says weak opposition is not good for democracy

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters Friday the vote in Parliament on Patrick Manning's motion shows that the opposition is divided and coming apart.

She was commenting on the failure of the former prime minister's motion that was seeking to have his lawyer examine witnesses in his matter before the Privileges Committee. The opposition abstained from the vote on instructions from the party but some members voted with Manning.

Patricia McIntosh, Fitzgerald Henry and Amery Browne said they defied the PNM caucus and voted with Manning because they were persuaded by Manning's argument and voted on "principle and conscience".

Persad-Bissessar's take on the matter was that the PNM was no longer a strong opposition and she expressed concern about that.

"There may be implications for the democracy and the functioning of the democracy, because it is well respected by all that you need a strong Opposition to keep the Government in check," she said.

Manning had rejected the idea of coalitions and had predicted that the five-party partnership that won the last general election would come apart. The Prime Minister noted that the opposite is the case.

"Today as we approach our one-year anniversary, we have not only held together, I do believe we have grown stronger.," she said. Persad-Bissesssar added, "On the other hand, the Opposition of one party is the one that has collapsed and that has not held together."

She wondered whether Keith Rowley's call for mutiny and a court martial is now coming to pass and suggested that the "bridge" that PNM members had built to bring Manning and Rowley together "has fallen down."

With respect to Manning's motion, Persad-Bissessar said the established protocol allows an attorney to be present with a member is before the Privileges Committee but the lawyer cannot speak.

"Can you imagine if you are in the Privileges Committee and you have lawyers on each side, what is going to happen, it is going to become a court of law.

"But the most salient point is this—the Privileges Committee does not have punitive powers. It has no jurisdiction, no power to sentence, to suspend or to do anything. All it can do is report and that's its mandate," she explained, noting that it is the Parliament that has the jurisdiction "to take any punitive or apply any penalties thereafter," she said.

She had a final comment on Manning's humiliation at the hands of his own party. "They say those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make them angry."