“The Prime Minister doth protest too much.”
These were the words of Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday in response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s call to remove Opposition senator Faris Al-Rawi.
“She is going after anything that she thinks can help her cause. We have selected our candidate, we are competing for votes in San Fernando West and we are relying on all the right thinking, decent citizens in San Fernando West who are in the vast majority,” Rowley said during a walkabout along the Talparo Main Road in the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency with candidate Maxie Cuffy.
“The Prime Minister is relying on the banality of trying to change the conversation and revising history. Faris Al-Rawi is the most excellent candidate and the Prime Minister’s ruminations will not change that
During the UNC’s Monday Night forum, the PM called for Rowley to remove Al-Rawi as both a senator and candidate for the San Fernando West seat over a conflict of interest issue which arose in the Senate last week.
But Rowley said the Prime Minister’s “attack” on Al-Rawi was her simply following orders from her public relations team.
“Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister is following instructions from public relations handlers, and they have obviously instructed her to attack me and Faris, and she is trying to run away from the issues that she has to be held accountable for,” he said.
He said the PM’s attack was out of panic that she may lose the upcoming general elections and her statements reveal her true nature.
“I am not interested in the Prime Minister’s personal interpretations in these matters,” he said.
Rowley said in time the People’s Partnership Government will have to account for their actions and he will be sure to hold them to it.
“This Government will have to account for what it has done and it’s offering us more of the same, the same bitter medicine and to do that the population has to be distracted and the PNM will ensure that that strategy does not succeed,” he said.
Asked about the comment the Prime Minister made regarding Reginald Armour contesting the presidency of the Law Association, Rowley said, “The Prime Minister in this particular matter, which is the root of Section 34, the Prime Minister doth protest too much.”