By Prior Beharry
TEMPORARY Opposition Senator Dr Tim Gopeesingh says “paid bloggers” are perpetrating rumours and falsehoods against Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
He was speaking in the Senate during the 2023/2024 Budget debate on Tuesday.
Dr Gopeesingh said, “It is a very painful issue to see yesterday circulating on blogsites rumours of the former prime minister, present leader of the opposition and soon to be next prime minister again, there is no doubt about it the people are speaking, of the vicious rumours perpetrated, we understand, by paid bloggers.
“And we ask who are these paid bloggers? Is the paid blogger, one of them being supported and being paid by this government.”
Leader of Government Business in the Senate and Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr Amery Browne and Finance Minister Colm Imbert objected cited standing order 46(1) saying that what Dr Gopeesingh was presenting was irrelevant to the Budget.
Senate President Nigel De Freitas asked Dr Gopeesingh to put it into a context to the Budget.
Dr Gopeesingh said, “It is in the context of the expenditure of the Ministry of Finance and the National Control Lotteries Board (NLCB) to be paying one of the bloggers in Trinidad and Tobago who continue to spread rumours, false rumours.
“And we ask what is the government doing about that.
“We understand that there are certain bloggers who are being paid by the State and this is money coming out of the budgetary allocation for this year as well and came out from last year as well.
“So what is the government doing about it in terms of viciousness and the dirtiness that is being spread by this paid blogger.
“And the Ministry of Finance has a lot of explanations to give and particularly the National Control Lotteries Board which has an expenditure on it as well.”
There was objections again from Imbert.
Dr Gopeesingh said he wanted to comment on a news item in the media which reflects ongoing malicious falsehoods and propaganda against her.
He asked if he was not allowed to raise an issue in the newspapers that related to the Budget debate.
De Fretias said, “One, we don’t brandish the newspapers and two, you need to make that connection. All I am hearing that you are speaking to an issue that is in the papers today, I haven’t heard what the issue is and it needs to be relevant to the Budget.”
Dr Gopeesingh said, “Members of the public should not go through and spread malicious falsehood and propaganda…”
Imbert objected again citing standing order 46 (1).
De Freitas said the statement Dr Gopeesingh was trying to make was creating an air of imputation and he still didn’t know what the issue being alluded to and that it had to be relevant to the budgetary process before the Senate.
Dr Gopeesingh said, “Based on the falsehoods that has been perpetrated the honourable leader of the opposition is quite fit and healthy and strong.”
This created uproad from the government benches and De Freitas told Dr Gopeesingh that he cannot begin by imputing and advised him to move to the next point and don’t even close it off.
Dr Gopeesingh replied, “The leader of the opposition is fit, healthy and rearing to go.”
On Monday, there were cirulating on social media statements that Persad-Bissessar has suffered a small stroke while she was abroad.
But, the Opposition Leader posted photos of her playing her dog and visiting a vendor.
