PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Lawyers representing Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar Thursday sent a pre-action protocol letter to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley alleging he made defamatory statements against their client last Sunday.
Persad Bissessar said that she wanted an apology from Rowley, who made the statements during the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) Family and Fun Day at Toco, southeast of here last Sunday.
“Rowley’s willfully ascribing statements to me, which I never made, is not only demonstrably false, but they are also incendiary and meant to incite ethnic divisions in our society. This is completely unacceptable and disgusting.”.
Persad Bissessar said she had called on Prime Minister Rowley “to retract and apologize for his defamatory statements, or I would take the necessary legal action.
“To date, Dr. Rowley neglected to issue an apology or even acknowledge what he did was reckless, wrong, and irresponsible. As such, I instructed my attorneys-at-law to issue a Pre-Action Protocol Letter to Rowley, delivered today, Thursday, 4th May 2023.”
She claimed that Rowley’s statements, “which were reported, published, and broadcast on various media, including social media, ascribed to me offensive and racially divisive remarks, which are entirely false and have caused irreparable damage to my reputation,” she added.
She said Prime Minister Rowley now has seven days “to issue an unqualified public retraction of his defamatory statements and make a public apology. If he fails, legal proceedings in the High Court would be commenced”.
At a news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Rowley “In so far as innocence is raised or accusations are made, the way to deal with that is the lawyers, I don’t advise myself with the law, and if I’m accused of breaking the law, then more than ever, my lawyers will be involved.”
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