Caption: Senate President Wade Mark

Summary

• Senate President Wade Mark rejected two motions of privilege against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
• The motions, filed by Independent Senator Anthony Vieira, SC, and PNM’s Dr Amery Browne, were ruled not to meet the required threshold
• The government needed a two-thirds majority to pass the ZOSO Bill in the Senate but failed after most independent senators voted against it
• Persad-Bissessar alleged that two independent senators sought personal favours in exchange for supporting the bill, and said the government would not “buy votes”
• The PNM demanded she name the senators, while the Law Association warned the allegations tainted all independent senators and urged proper reporting and investigation

 

SENATE President Wade Mark on Tuesday denied two motions of privilege brought against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar by an independent senator and an opposition legislator.

In a brief statement, Mark said the motions submitted by Independent Senator Anthony Vieira, SC, and opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) legislator Dr Amery Browne did not meet the threshold to be raised as matters 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 studied both submissions carefully and I am convinced that neither submission meets the threshold to be raised as a matter of privilege. I so rule,” said Mark, who also served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2015.

As he made his way to the Parliament building, Vieira—responding to media questions about Persad-Bissessar’s comments last week accusing two independent legislators of seeking favours from the government in return for supporting the controversial Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (ZOSO) Bill, which was defeated in the Senate—said, “I am looking to bring a motion of privilege today, so let’s see how that works.”

The Persad-Bissessar government needed a special two-thirds majority to pass the legislation in the Senate, after it was approved in the House of Representatives, where the government holds an overwhelming majority.

In the Senate vote, eight of the nine independent senators voted with the opposition against the bill, while one independent senator abstained.

In a social media post hours after the ZOSO legislation was defeated on Tuesday night, Persad-Bissessar wrote: “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.”

Before the Senate debate, Persad-Bissessar had described the independent legislators as “bootlickers and brown-nosers.”

The PNM has been calling on 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 place all nine Independent Senators under a cloud of suspicion while affording none the opportunity 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. (CMC)