Rowley questions legitimacy of MSJ in PP coalition

Keith Rowley is questioning the legitimacy of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) in the governing People's Partnership coalition.

The Leader of the Opposition was commenting on a public call by the President General of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union, Ancel Roget, for the MSJ to leave the coalition.

Roget has given the MSJ an ultimatum to leave the partnership or lose the support of the OWTU.

Read the story: Roget ready to mash up coalition; tells MSJ leave or lose OWTU support

The MSJ is one of the five members of the governing coalition. All of last week its leader, David Abdullah, was campaigning with the partnership, expressing solidarity with and full confidence in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Abdullah was a speaker at meetings held in different locations in the country, pledging that the partnership will remain in the coalition.

Now Rowley is suggesting that there is a contradiction in the views being expressed. "You can’t have a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister on Saturday evening and Saturday night you are leaving because you aren’t happy with the Prime Minister,” Rowley told reporters.

Rowley pointed to the OWTU's dissatisfaction with the Government and wondered about the legitimacy of the vote cast on behalf of the Prime Minister. "It makes you wonder whether the vote cast by the MSJ seat was in fact a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister,” he said.

His reference is to Errol McLeod, the MP for Point a Pierre and Minister of Labour. McLeod came into the partnership as the leader of the MSJ but resigned his position recently to focus on his ministerial portfolio.

The leadership of the MSJ went to Abdullah, who is a government senator and also the general secretary of the OWTU.

Rowley's point about the validity of the vote is without merit since McLeod fought the election as a candidate for the United National Congress (UNC) and therefore his leader is Kamla Persad-Bissessar, not Abdullah in the context of cabinet and Parliament.

In addition, the OWTU is only one of the labour organisations that form the membership of the MSJ. One commentator told JYOTI OWTU's position does not reflect the position of the MSJ. So the OWTU denouncing the PM does not mean that the MSJ holds that view.

Media reports say the MSJ is meeting to discuss the OWTU's concerns to decide whether it will support the OWTU position.