00:00Energy Minister Stuart Young, who is set to become the next Prime Minister of Trinidad
00:04and Tobago before the upcoming general election, tells TV6 News that he looks
00:09forward, quote, to uniting all of our citizens who are committed and willing
00:14to build our country and to take it forward to realize its fullest potential,
00:19end quote. Last week, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced that he would not
00:24be offering himself as a candidate for the general election due later this year
00:28and that he planned to resign before the end of his term as the head of the
00:32government. On Monday, Dr. Rowley announced that Minister Young was
00:36chosen to be the next head of the government via a straw poll of the
00:40elected PNM MPs. Dr. Rowley said the only other candidate was planning minister
00:46Penelope Beckles. The topic of unity and race within the PNM and in the nation
00:51has been brought up by some of those politically opposed to the PNM. TV6 News
00:56has sought a response from Minister Young to criticisms of his pending
01:00appointment as interim Prime Minister by opposition leader Kamala Prasad
01:04Bissessa as she says voters should decide who the next Prime Minister
01:09should be via the general election. The opposition leader, a senior counsel, also
01:14made a claim regarding a company owned by one of his family members and state
01:18funding. Minister Young, who received his appointment as a senior counsel last
01:23year, said what he called the leader of the opposition and the UNC's continued
01:28personalized attacks on his family and others are completely without merit. The
01:34Prime Minister, in waiting for this, said the population is more sensible than to
01:38place any credence on what he described as these fabrications and their nasty
01:44attacks on people. Minister Young declared, quote, I will not be distracted
01:48by Mrs. Prasad Bissessa and the UNC or any other detractor. I am certain that
01:52our citizens want delivery and results and I look forward to working with all
01:57to ensure a better Trinidad and Tobago, end quote. According to the Parliament's
02:02website, Minister Young first served in the Parliament as a temporary
02:05opposition senator from March 18th, 2014 to June 2nd, 2015. Since then, he was
02:13elected MP for Port of Spain North, St. Anne's West in the 2015 general election
02:18and again in the 2020 general election. Minister Young has served as Minister of
02:23National Security, Minister of Communications and the Minister in the
02:27Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs. He is the Minister of
02:31Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime
02:36Minister. As of late last year, Minister Young has served as Acting Prime
02:40Minister when Prime Minister Rowley was out of the country. Minister Young was
02:45the Acting Attorney General when the present state of emergency in Trinidad
02:49and Tobago took effect last week. Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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