Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 5 months ago
The Opposition leader tells the government that there is public opinion that the move by government to deny Stuart Young a Prime Minister's pension is vindictive, revengeful and wicked .
Transcript
00:00I put it to the Honourable House that the proposal for reform as contained in this bill is neither sinister nor ad hominem.
00:12Finance Minister Devendra Nath-Tanku as he piloted the bill that seeks to amend the Prime Minister's Pensions Act.
00:19Opposition leader Penelope Beckles outlined her party's position.
00:23I want to say that a number of the persons that I've spoken to see this legislation as being deliberately vindictive, revengeful and wicked.
00:38The Finance Minister made reference to the appointment of Port of Spain North St. Anne's West MP Stuart Young,
00:45who served as Prime Minister from March 17th of this year until April 28th of this year,
00:51when the PNM lost the general election to the UNC and its coalition of interests.
00:56It is highly arguable that the Honourable Member for Port of Spain North St. Anne's West
01:02was never eligible to be appointed as Prime Minister by Her Excellency pursuant to Section 761A of the Constitution.
01:15Mr. Speaker, in short, that appointment as Prime Minister is most likely unconstitutional.
01:24But even if it were constitutional, I believe that the Act should be brought in line with regional best practice
01:31and our own legislative provisions.
01:35The Finance Minister said that the bill seeks to implement a tiered system with the minimum pension
01:41of a person who served as Prime Minister for not less than one year from the date of the appointment
01:47being one-third of his or her highest annual rate of salary paid at any time as Prime Minister.
01:55While the opposition leader said reform is necessary,
01:58she highlighted the provision that the amendments to the Prime Minister's Act
02:02are to take effect retroactively from March 10th, 2025.
02:06The recommended tiered system of the government, in essence, I have no difficulty with.
02:15And the majority of us, I would say all of us, don't have a difficulty with the tiered system.
02:23But let me also say that what we have a difficulty with is the retroactivity.
02:28Justice Minister Davish Maraj pointed out that the average public servant
02:36has to work for just over three decades to qualify for a pension.
02:41Yet when it comes to the Prime Minister, the position of Prime Minister,
02:45you are telling this country, and if you spent less than a year in that office,
02:50you're entitled to work away at $87,000 a month.
02:53Is that reasonably justifiable?
02:55The opposition leader questioned whether the government's amendments
02:58to the Prime Minister's Pensions Act are justifiable.
03:02As a matter of fact, the last speaker made it abundantly clear
03:08in his contribution that this bill is all about the Member of Parliament
03:15for Port-A-Spain-North-Saint-Answerth.
03:17St. Joseph.
03:18When you are making law, even if you take the position you don't like somebody,
03:26is it that you're going to make law specifically to target that person?
03:32Finance Minister Tancu said the government decided to turn lemons into lemonade.
03:37Firstly, I want to make it very clear that this bill is not ad hominem in nature.
03:46It is meant to apply to every person appointed as Prime Minister with immediate effect.
03:57It clearly has retrospective effect in the sense that if a person is not eligible under the Act,
04:04no pension is payable to him.
04:08MP Young said on Facebook that he considered the bill to be an abuse of the Constitution
04:13and would not be participating in the debate.
04:16Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:18Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:33Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:42Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:44Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:44Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
04:45So we can just accept that if you want any companies are not part of century.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment