PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The President of the Senate, Wade Mark, ruled on Tuesday, denying two motions of privileges brought against Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar by an independent as well as an opposition legislator. Mark, in a brief statement, said that the motion carried by Independent Senator Anthony Vieira and opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) legislator, Dr Amery Browne, did not meet the threshold to be raised as a matter of privilege.
“I have received correspondence from both Senator Anthony Vieira SC and Senator Dr Amery Browne seeking to raise two matters of privilege. I have since carefully studied both submissions, and I am convinced that neither meets the threshold for raising a matter of privilege. I so rule,” said Mark, who had also served as Speaker of the Parliament between 2010 15.
As he made his way to the Parliament building, Vieira in response to questions from the media regarding Prime Minister Persad Bissessar accusing two independent legislators last week of seeking favour from the government in return for supporting the controversial the Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (ZOSO) Bill that was defeated in the Senate, said “I am looking to bring a motion of privileges today so let’s see how that works.
The Kamla Persad-Bissessar government needed a special two-thirds majority to ensure passage of the legislation in the Senate, after it had passed it in the Lower House with an overwhelming majority there.
Eight of the nine independent legislators voted with the opposition against the Bill in the Senate, while one independent senator abstained.
In a social media post hours after the ZOSO legislation was defeated in the Senate, on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar wrote that “during the debate, two of the President’s Senators approached a senior Government Senator seeking personal favours in exchange for support and for securing the remaining votes needed for passage. Those requests were rejected. From that moment, it was clear the Bill would not pass. They know who they are. They must live with that shame.
“My Government will not buy votes. This is why I warn about the fake ‘eat-a-food’ elite. They do not care about decent, hardworking citizens, only self-interest and privilege,” said Persad-Bissessar, who, before the debate in the Senate, had described the independent legislators as ‘bootlickers and brown-nosers.’
The PNM has been calling on Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to name the Independent Senators accused of misconduct, but she has refused to do so.
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) said that making “such allegations places all nine Independent Senators under a cloud of suspicion while allowing none to clear their name.
“If there is substance to these claims, the appropriate course is to provide the relevant details to the proper authorities so that a fair inquiry may be conducted,” the LATT added.
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