Apologise to the nation.
That was the call to Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley from Communication Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday, in the wake of Rowley’s alleged “sexist” remarks during a PNM cottage meeting in Brazil on Tuesday.
Debate has raged since the remarks were made, with mixed reaction from the public.
At that meeting, Rowley said, “She could jump high, she could jump low, she could drink this, she could drink that, she could bark at my dog because I will ignore she kyat.”
Some sectors of society say Rowley was extremely degrading to women. Speaking to reporters at the opening of Yufe’s Maraval store yesterday, Bharath said Rowley should apologise to the nation.
“It really is something which Dr Rowley ought to retract and apologise to the nation, not necessarily to just women, but to the nation as a whole, particularly because he is someone who is aspiring to hold high office.”
Describing Rowley’s behaviour as “reprehensible,” Bharath added, “It is an indefensible position for Dr Rowley or Mr Al-Rawi and certainly Camille Robinson-Regis, who really has no credibility in this matter, in any event at all, to even discuss it.”
Speaking on behalf of the PNM Women’s League, Robinson-Regis criticised the PP for taking what she said was all political picong and making it into a campaign issue.
Commenting on Robinson-Regis’ defence of Rowley, Bharath said, “I don’t think anyone would be taking her seriously.”
Ironically, at the UNC’s Monday night forum, Persad-Bissessar boasted about distributing “laptops not lap dance.”
Asked if this comment could not also be seen as reprehensible, Bharath said, “I disagree, if they are referring to the statement that the Prime Minister talked about a lap dance, I don’t see that as sexist at all, simply because Dr Rowley, his behaviour was in open for everyone to see, so describing it as a lap dance was an understatement.”
Rowley’s statement is expected to be discussed by the Code of Ethics Committee next week.