McLeod was leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) when the organinsation joined the People's Partnership under the Fyzabad Declaration in 2010.
At that time the MSJ was not a political organisation and McLeod ran as the candidate for the Point a Pierre constituency under the banner of the United National Congress (UNC).
He later resigned from the MSJ when it became a political party and the leadership went to David Abdulah, who announced on Sunday that the MSJ would not longher be a part of the governing coalition. He also said McLeod will remain a member of the MSJ.
McLeod told reporters on Thursday where he stands. "It is a long time, a very long time since we have had anybody in the Parliament identified as independent, that might be a consideration that I might have but I told you that I am going to deal very fully with the subject, just have a little patience with me."
McLeod added, "The MSJ has left me in the Partnership Government." He explained that after winning his seat in the 2010 general election, he took an oath to serve the people, with special reference to areas related to labour.
"I do not have at this time any specific party affiliation and I continue to function as Labour Minister and representative for the constituency of Point-a-Pierre where I got I think it was 11,288 votes in the elections.
"I propose, when I would have been properly informed — I have not yet been so informed — I propose to make a quite comprehensive statement on this whole issue, there is a lot to be said and I ask only for your patience as I accumulate a whole lot I would like to say," he said.
McLeod reminded the media that from June 2010 to May 2012 the government has settled 36 collective agreements and nine others have been partly settled as some issues led to them being referred to the Industrial Court.
"I think, if I may say so myself, that we have done tremendously well and anybody, including colleagues in the labour movement, they are still my colleagues and they will continue to be with that kind of relationship, I feel assured, anybody who suggests that we have not been working has either been sleeping or is a pathological liar," said McLeod.
The minister also welcomed his colleague James Lambert as a Government Senator to replace Abdulah. "I want to be the first after he takes his oath to congratulate comrade James Lambert on his appointment as a Senator and I will depend on his many years in the vineyard, his experiences as we will both work towards relieving the plight of working people in Trinidad and Tobago," Mc Leod said.
No comments:
Post a Comment