Persad-Bissessar announced the plan this week to establish a permanent Anti-Corruption Commission and to introduce a new criminal offence called "unjust enrichment".
However the leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) told reporters there is no need for this since the country has enough laws to deal with corruption. He suggested that the announcement was another part of the government's public relations campaign.
“The Prime Minister is coming across as somebody who just churns out words for the sake of the occasion and not thinking things through,” he told the Trinidad Guardian. “It is becoming more and more difficult to listen to what she has to say.”
Rowley said the problem is not the lack of laws but the failure of the authorities to implement them. “When last did you hear anybody being charged for corruption in this country?” he asked.
He said passing new laws would not solve the problem. Instead he called for for “institutional strengthening and governance by behaviour.”
He charged that Persad-Bissessar is “ignoring” the report of the Uff Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector and UDeCOTT while seeking to bring new laws to deal with corruption matters.
Rowley claimed the People’s Partnership Government had “not found its place yet and it feels that public relations gimmickry will get us through our difficulties."
Read the guest column: Public relations, spin and politicians by Roy Mitchell
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