Caption: Dr Kirk Meighoo
By Alicia Chamely
THE United National Congress (UNC) is questioning the independence of the Independent Senators, accusing them of being aligned with the Opposition.
They are calling on them to reflect on the role of independence and join the government in passing the Amended Prime Minister’s Pension Bill.
On Sunday, the UNC held a press conference at their Chaguanas headquarters to address some matters of concern.
The Amended Prime Minister’s Pension Bill was passed in the lower house on Friday and goes to the Upper House on Monday for approval.
UNC Public Relations Officer Kirk Meighoo questioned whether the “President’s Senators” would support the Bill or “thwart the will of the 335,161 voters” who elected the UNC into office.
Defining what he meant by calling the members the “Presidents Senator’s”, he said, “Let us be clear, there are no independent senators, despite the way people talk about them, the constitution contains no such term. They are presidential senators, and, in this case, they have been appointed by President Christine Kangaloo, a long standing and deeply embedded figure within the People’s National Movement.”
Meighoo accused the Independent Senators of aligning themselves with “PNM ideology”, which he described as “pro-establishment, pro-elite, pro-status quo.”
He focused on Senator Anthony Vieira, an attorney, whom he said was “a vocal critic of the UNC when in opposition” and had been the recipient of numerous briefs under the PNM government.
Meighoo said since parliament had been called, the UNC had seen first-hand what they deemed as political alignment with the PNM in the Senate, most notably during the debate to the Amendments of the Children’s Life Fund Act.
He said, “We have seen the practical implication of this from the get-go, in the first working sitting of the 13th Republican Parliament on three occasions of the committee stage, every one of these so-called Independent Senators aligned with the PNM to create a 15- 15 tie.”
Meighoo questioned this tie saying, “This unanimity was unusual because the so-called Independent Senators are not supposed to coordinate their votes, not supposed to caucus. It was a dramatic indication to just how aligned the Presidents’ appointees are with the opposition PNM.”
Regarding Monday’s vote he asked, “Will they vote as a group as if they caucused, or as if they were one mind?”
He said, “We call on the President’s Senators, do not thwart the will of the people, do not be a backwards force. Do not allow the PNM to get away with this loophole, allowing persons to collect over 1 million in pension for just serving one day or even five seconds, as Colm Imbert argued, when other public servants must work for a minimum of ten years to get a pension.”
Joining Meighoo, Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath said, “We are calling on the Independent Senators to be true to their name and for the Independent Senators to remain independent and work in the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago by protecting tax payers and protecting the national purse by voting with the government on a bill that seeks to protect the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Questioned by the media as to whether Meighoo believed his accusations of the political alignment of the Independent Senators was “improper,” Meighoo responded saying he did not believe his statement were in anyway unsuitable and what the UNC had done was “unveiled the fiction of the independence.”
Minister of Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein defended Meighoo and Padarath’s call for the Senators to “vote with the government” saying, “We have a right to come on this platform and advise on our views in respect to the national interest. And today we are calling on all right-thinking citizens including the independent senators to do the right thing and help us protect national and public interest, there is nothing wrong with that.”
Amendments to the Prime Minister Pension Bills were passed on Friday during the 13th Sitting of the House of Representatives at Red House, Port-of-Spain, with 27 members in favour and 11 abstaining.
The Amendments include a provision disallows pension payments being made to anyone who serves as Prime Minister for less than one year.
The provision, activates retroactively to March 10, 2025, disqualifying Member for Port of Spain North/ St Ann’s West Stuart Young for a Prime Minister’s pension.
Young served as Prime Minister between March 17 to April 28, 2025.
Additionally, the amendments call for a system of meritocracy, meaning the full pension will only be paid if the position of Prime Minister was held for the full five-year term. Members who served for less time, will receive an adjusted pension that reflects the length of their service once it was over one year.
