Caption: Barry Padarath
By Alicia Chamely
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will “cool it” when trafficking ends, murders decline and every citizen feels safe in their homes and communities. Until then the heat will be turned up by the government.
This was Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath’s message to Opposition Senator Dr Amery Browne who called on the prime minister “cool it” with her aggressive rhetoric, arguing it encouraged toxic behaviour and division among the population.
Speaking at an Opposition press conference on Wednesday, Browne said, “My bigger concern is the politics of hate and division and the narrative that is being advanced. Some of it seems to be imported from abroad, which is serving to polarise the society and possibly radicalise individuals even more than before.”
He said, “You’re dealing with a broad population. You’re dealing with supporters, some of which might be susceptible to taking the wrong decisions and actions based on your rhetoric.”
Coming to the prime minister’s defence, Padarath issued a press release on Thursday. He said, “The Prime Minister will ‘cool it’ when murders decline, illegal firearms stop flowing into our borders, drug trafficking networks are dismantled, human trafficking is eradicated, and citizens, of every race, religion, or political persuasion, feel safe in their homes and communities.”
He added, “Until then, we will be turning up the heat, because Trinidad and Tobago deserve leadership that acts decisively, not leadership that hides behind contrived outrage while allowing political toxicity to flourish.”
Padarath chastised Browne for his “sudden moral posturing” given the People’s National Movement’s history of offensive behaviour.
He stated, “What Dr Browne conveniently ignores is the vast catalogue of violent, incendiary, and deeply irresponsible language that has poured unchecked from his party’s leaders, ministers, and loyal activists. It is the PNM that has spent years polluting the political atmosphere with hostility, threats, and divisive rhetoric.”
Padarath gave examples of the language and actions by the PNM government that Browne “conveniently” ignored.
Examples included the infamous “Zammy” hot mic statement from Member of Parliament for Port of Spain North/ St Ann’s West Stuart Young, and former Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds saying, “Finish them out. Kill them dead, take a Balisier stake and drive it deep into the heart of the UNC vampires,” during a political rally.
Drawing attention to former prime minister Keith Rowley, Padarath said, “Dr Browne also remained silent when his former political leader and prime minister Dr Keith Rowley referred to women using the degrading term ‘jamette,’ delivered the offensive ‘a golf course is like a woman’ comment, called citizens hyenas, and used the racially loaded phrase ‘cotton-picking mind’.”
He said, “Each remark contributed to a corrosive political environment, lowering standards of public discourse. Yet Dr. Browne never once objected to the noxious rhetoric emanating from his own leader.”
Padarath said, “The PNM has a decades long legacy of inflammatory speech, a legacy soaked in political pollutants. Senator Browne’s sudden moral posturing, after years of silence under his own party’s poisonous rhetoric, is both late and deeply partisan.”
Addressing Browne’s concerns that the prime minister’s aggressive tone may spark violence or exacerbate societal tensions, Padarath asserted, “Let it be stated with absolute clarity, violence or incitement to violence against ANY citizen is illegal, immoral, and unacceptable. We condemn it without reservation, no matter who attempts to justify it, enable it, or look away.”
Padarath concluded by stating that before Browne condemned the prime minister’s words, he should look at what has been said in his own party.
He said, “If Senator Browne wishes to lecture the nation on responsible speech and public safety, he must begin where the pattern of poisonous rhetoric is strongest and most consistent, inside the PNM itself.”
“Until then, the United National Congress remains focused on governance, national security, and protecting the rights and safety of every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
