00:00On the matter of the handover of the reins of prime ministership, Dr Indira Rampersad
00:05says legality may not be the point of contention.
00:09I think the moral authority is the issue. How are the PNM supporters feeling about this
00:14handover and through undemocratic means. It's not really, it's top down, it's not really
00:20the people electing their leader. And it should be the leader of the party, you know, that's
00:26what 76A and B speak about. The leader of the party who commands the majority of support
00:31in the house should become the prime minister. And that is the democratic process they're
00:34talking about. So I think the rank and file, you know, the question needs to be asked is
00:40how do they feel about that? Are they feeling betrayed that the party was handed on to somebody
00:45they didn't elect?
00:46She says one action can be taken to correct the potential blunder.
00:50If Dr Rowley comes on Sunday on handover and announces that, you know, the parliament
00:56is going to be dissolved and he announces a date for the election, which he can very
00:59well do as his last hurrah, there would hardly be a case for challenge.
01:04But Dr Rampersad says while Dr Rowley could have stepped down from the political leadership
01:09and allowed his party to elect a new leader and call the election, thereby saving his
01:15full term, he chose not to.
01:17So it came in the wake of a spate of murders during Christmas, a spate, a series of murders.
01:23And he called a state of emergency at the same time as he announced he was demitting.
01:28So I think there was, I still think, and this is my belief, that there was pressure, pressure
01:35from the business sector on the one hand, and for all you know, I am guessing here,
01:40pressure also from the U.S. government on that whole arrangement with Maduro and the
01:45carbon gas deals.
01:46So I think there was both internal and external pressure, and if I may add, I think the position
01:54of the U.K. government now could have been one that is being, you know, the U.S. government
02:03is putting pressure on the U.K. to do that.
02:05She calls it strange and unprecedented that he's stepping down in the run-up to a general
02:10election.
02:12On the PM's statement during his sit-down with the media on Thursday night, when quizzed
02:16about his legacy, the prime minister said he must have done something good.
02:22But Dr. Rampersad says he needs to specify.
02:24He's leaving the health sector in a mess, he's leaving the security of the country in
02:33a mess, and he's leaving the economy in a mess, so you know, it's dire straits all around.
02:41So in terms of the legacy, yeah, in terms of the legacy, I mean, I don't know what is
02:50the positive out of it.
02:53All in all, his sit-down with the media, she says, deflected from the burning issues.
02:59She tried to gloss over a lot of the issues, such as crime and the economy in particular.
03:06And you know, it's basically that I did my best.
03:12So be it.
03:13You know, he's on exit.
03:14Keep that in mind.
03:15So I don't think it really matters.
03:16There's no need to politic anymore, although he was still making a pitch, you know, for
03:22himself and his legacy and his reign, although he claimed he was not interested in legacy.
03:28So for example, I thought his defense of the national security minister was lame, claiming
03:34that crime is not just about the minister, who is the minister, but who is the minister
03:38is driving the whole process.
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