Press Release:
Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, recognizing that she could not take refuge in her usual rhetoric that ‘Oh God, he or she is a PNM spy’ has now found a new punching bag- the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. Once Mrs. Persad- Bissessar is called to account or her style of leadership is criticized, she immediately accuses people of being spies, traitors and extremists, and then tells everyone how much she loves them.
In response to my press conference, she issued a confusing message accusing me of promoting extremism and implying that the SDMS is attempting to control her, while simultaneously saying she is “full of love to all”. This is classic “gaslighting” behaviour often deployed by manipulators who tell their victims that they are only abusing them because they “love them”. If Mrs Persad-Bissessar truly loved the members of the UNC as she claims then she should start listening to their concerns about her lacking ability to take the UNC into government.
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar has now made some disturbing and unsubstantiated insinuations about the Maha Sabha, ascribing ulterior motives to me and the SDMS, and by extension, the Hindus that are represented by the SDMS. (“… I cannot and will not be controlled by any individual or group to promote any singular agenda at the expense of other sections of society.”) She is yet to explain which individual or group or agenda she is referring to.
If, indeed her insinuation was that the SDMS is now an extremist, intolerant group, I challenge her to come out and say so frankly and publicly.
My press conference of last Friday had nothing to do with race or religion. My message which dealt with numerous examples of leadership failure was intended for every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, and especially the UNC membership so that they may know that the present leadership is failing them.
For the public record I would like to state what I believe examples of “extremism and intolerance” are.
Intolerance is insulting and degrading Members of Parliament who respectfully call for internal elections.
Extremism is encouraging supporters to hold placards which portray an elected leader as a Hindu goddess or devi, while the said elected leader smiles from ear to ear. Extremism is when an MP during his Parliamentary contribution during the period of Divali alluded to the fact that his leader and the Goddess Lakshmi have the same name: Kamla, no doubt insinuating that they both share equal significance.
Furthermore, what proved to be an eye opener is her response concerning the UNC’s internal nomination for President. Mrs. Persad Bissessar has admitted that “…precautions were taken with the sharing of information internally after 3 UNC MPs voted against the UNC nominee…. …to protect the party so some members and MPs will not be aware of all the activities occurring within the organization.”
I want to ask Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar the following questions on behalf of the country:
1. How was the leadership able to identify which MPs were the three members in question who voted against the party’s nominee? Was it by tampering with the secret ballot or was it based on an arbitrary guess?
2. How does the leadership know the identities of the three persons who voted against the party’s nominee were MPs and not Senators?
3. Onwhatauthority,providedforintheUNCconstitution,didyouexercise a power to withhold information on activities occurring within the organization from fellow MPs?
4. Was this election (of President) not supposed to be by secret ballot, and therefore did every member not have the right to vote secretly, and remain anonymous as a result?
5. Are you aware that secret ballots are not governed by the whip, and therefore a unanimous vote could not be dictated by the leader?
6. Did the MPs and/or Senators who did not vote for the nominee, break any party rules, and if so, which one? If not, was it not arbitrary punishment to withhold information on activities occurring within the party from them?
7. How exactly were these three members a threat to the party which required that the party had to be “protected” from them?
8. What was the nature of the threat alluded to by yourself?
This cloak and dagger manner of handling things without any regard for the Constitution, and the rank favouritism bestowed on party members at the expense of others, only gives credence to what I have told the country about the internal failures of the party under her leadership.
Any serious challenge to the PNM requires more than Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s insistence that the UNC membership worship her with cult like devotion. A serious political organization needs the mechanisms and structure to be able to function in an optimal manner to hold the PNM to account. There is no evidence that Mrs Persad-Bissessar is interested in building the UNC’s party structures and as her response to my press conference clearly shows, she only views the UNC as an instrument to foster her own cult of personality.
The time for change is now. Any chance of defeating the PNM starts with an honest confrontation of the leadership issues that need to be addressed.
Dinesh Rambally
Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West