ON Friday Dr Rowley, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago gave a performance of a lifetime where he deflected and dodged all direct questions put in the public domain by the Opposition without really addressing the issue of not filling out the Form B under the Integrity in Public Life Act that is required by law.
For this performance he deserves an Oscar for best actor, with allegations of breaching the Integrity of Public Life Act by the Opposition, Dr Rowley dodged and weaved in what only can be described as a man that believes he can get away with anything and say and do anything and the people of T&T will accept his explanations without questions.
Who dare question him, he implied that they were ignorant and do not understand business in the real world, the way an expert businessman like himself can negotiate a price of a property and get it at a lower price.
In an hour of broadcast on the State-owned TTT station, he denied all allegations and waved a piece of paper claiming it’s his undeniable evidence against the Opposition’s claim that he failed to file the information required under the Integrity in Public Life Act. Displaying this piece of paper and exclaiming that here is the proof that he filed his papers.
He claimed the media were supporting the Opposition’s agenda to derail the PNM’s campaign for the THA election on Monday. In his usual style of scolding the media and everyone in his line of sight, he fired off as a real gunslinger explaining the economics of buying a property or a car and claimed he always acts responsibly in anything he does. What seemed to be from left field was his claim that he never visited a whorehouse, in fact, everything he does under the sun is above board.
What came out quite clearly though is anyone under the Integrity in Public Life Act are required to fill out two forms, a confidential Form A, which provides information on the person’s income, assets and liabilities in public life and a Form B, which provides another disclosure of a person’s in public life properties.
Form B is the one available for public view. However, allegedly he did not fill in that one correctly. The PM’s denied the allegations made by UNC MP Saddam Hosein and basically called the UNC Opposition liars.
After all the deflections, accusations and innuendos, the PM did not provide a satisfactory response to the question of why he did not disclose the property he bought in Tobago on Form B that is required by law.
What citizens saw was a man on the edge trying desperately to convince everyone that he’s beyond reproach, that his integrity is beyond reproach and that he’s lily-white.
At the end of it all, we are left with more questions than answers and the Form A that the PM waved in his press briefing could not be substantiated in any real way.
The PM really seemed to be trying too hard to convince everyone that there isn’t anything wrong here but we are left with more questions than answers and with an uneasy feeling that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
(Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.)
PM Unconvincing
ON Friday Dr Rowley, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago gave a performance of a lifetime where he deflected and dodged all direct questions put in the public domain by the Opposition without really addressing the issue of not filling out the Form B under the Integrity in Public Life Act that is required by law.
For this performance he deserves an Oscar for best actor, with allegations of breaching the Integrity of Public Life Act by the Opposition, Dr Rowley dodged and weaved in what only can be described as a man that believes he can get away with anything and say and do anything and the people of T&T will accept his explanations without questions.
Who dare question him, he implied that they were ignorant and do not understand business in the real world, the way an expert businessman like himself can negotiate a price of a property and get it at a lower price.
In an hour of broadcast on the State-owned TTT station, he denied all allegations and waved a piece of paper claiming it’s his undeniable evidence against the Opposition’s claim that he failed to file the information required under the Integrity in Public Life Act. Displaying this piece of paper and exclaiming that here is the proof that he filed his papers.
He claimed the media were supporting the Opposition’s agenda to derail the PNM’s campaign for the THA election on Monday. In his usual style of scolding the media and everyone in his line of sight, he fired off as a real gunslinger explaining the economics of buying a property or a car and claimed he always acts responsibly in anything he does. What seemed to be from left field was his claim that he never visited a whorehouse, in fact, everything he does under the sun is above board.
What came out quite clearly though is anyone under the Integrity in Public Life Act are required to fill out two forms, a confidential Form A, which provides information on the person’s income, assets and liabilities in public life and a Form B, which provides another disclosure of a person’s in public life properties.
Form B is the one available for public view. However, allegedly he did not fill in that one correctly. The PM’s denied the allegations made by UNC MP Saddam Hosein and basically called the UNC Opposition liars.
After all the deflections, accusations and innuendos, the PM did not provide a satisfactory response to the question of why he did not disclose the property he bought in Tobago on Form B that is required by law.
What citizens saw was a man on the edge trying desperately to convince everyone that he’s beyond reproach, that his integrity is beyond reproach and that he’s lily-white.
At the end of it all, we are left with more questions than answers and the Form A that the PM waved in his press briefing could not be substantiated in any real way.
The PM really seemed to be trying too hard to convince everyone that there isn’t anything wrong here but we are left with more questions than answers and with an uneasy feeling that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
(Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.)