00:00On Sunday at a United National Congress briefing, party PRO Dr. Kirk Magoo prefaced the Prime Minister's Pension Amendment Bill,
00:10which, after being passed in the lower house, needs a three-fifth majority to be passed in the Senate, which met today.
00:17Therefore, we are forced to depend on four additional senators for this bill to pass
00:25and the will of the people to be adhered to and listened to.
00:31If at least four senators do not support the bill, then they will actually allow the PNM to continue to rape the Treasury, even in opposition.
00:46He said the independent bench was one appointed by, quote-unquote, the most politically aligned president in TNT's history.
00:53There are no independent senators, despite the way people talk about them.
01:00The Constitution contains no such term.
01:04They are presidential senators.
01:07And in this case, they've been appointed by President Christine Kangaloo,
01:14a long-standing and deeply embedded figure within the People's National Movement.
01:20Her own lengthy political career as a PNM senator in 2001.
01:27Dr. Magoo said the bench does not represent a fair cross-section of the population
01:32and some members have their own baggage.
01:35Senator Vieira is the recipient of state briefs under the PNM.
01:40He was a vocal critic of the then-opposition UNC in the Senate.
01:44Senator Simon de la Bastide has long-standing ties to the PNM.
01:50Several others might be described as culturally PNM or PNM-adjacent.
01:55As the upper house started its sitting earlier today, President Wade Mark made his ruling.
02:00A serious issue has been raised with me via correspondence,
02:10which I have determined warrants my early and urgent intervention.
02:19Parliamentary privilege, Mark said, provides essential protection to all members from external interference.
02:25They are free, he said, to speak deliberate and vote without fear or coercion.
02:31When it comes to healthy criticism, the Senate president said,
02:35it is not only permitted but welcomed.
02:38No one is suggesting that expressions of disappointment over policy outcomes
02:47or disagreement with a vote are out of bounds or outbounds.
03:01But what we are dealing with here is not mere criticism.
03:10And that's where he's drawing the line.
03:13When words or actions cross the line into harassment, intimidation or attempts to shame senators for how they vote
03:28or pressure them to vote in a particular way,
03:34that is something entirely different and it will not be tolerated.
03:42His role in the debacle, too, is clear.
03:45This House and certainly this chair will act firmly to protect the privileges, rights and immunities
03:59of this Senate collectively and each senator individually.
04:07Mark assured that the protection will be exercised to the full extent of the Senate's authority
04:13and the appropriate avenues for redress will be pursued without hesitation.
04:19Ravishi Tawari, Rupanarayan, TV6 News.
04:21Ravishi Tawari, Rupanarayan, TV6 News.
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