PNM WANTS APOLOGY FROM TANCOO

CCNTV6

The Opposition Leader is telling the Government: do not link the PNM to criminal elements or any plot against the State.  And she is calling on one Cabinet member to apologise to her party.   This, as one of her MPs uses one word to describe that Cabinet member's criticism of the Opposition's questions about the cancellation of the Independence Day parade and fireworks display.  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00I want to say it is reckless, I want to say it is deliberately dishonest, and I want to say it's deplorable.

00:08And we are calling on Mr. Tanku to retract those statements because it is totally false.

00:16Opposition Leader Pembeko's response to Finance Minister Devindranath Tanku's TikTok post

00:22about the opposition PNM's questions to the new UNC-led government about the cancellation of the 2025 Independence Day Parade

00:31and the state-sponsored fireworks display.

00:34If we have established that there is a viable, true, or real security threat against high office holders in the country,

00:43including members of the Judiciary Police Service and Prison Service,

00:46why is the PNM so anxious to have all of these individuals in one place?

00:53Who exactly is the PNM trying to facilitate? The criminals?

00:58The opposition Leader pointed out that the government had said crime is down in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:04We have the right to ask the government exactly why it is you are cancelling the parade,

01:10and therefore we see this as a very desperate, shameless, and despicable attempt

01:16to link the PNM with the criminal elements in this country in some sinister plot,

01:23and we are therefore calling on him to immediately apologize.

01:28The opposition Leader spoke during a media conference on Monday

01:32and was joined by opposition MP and former Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

01:37I would not be so polite as the Honourable Leader of the Opposition

01:42with respect to the TikTok that Minister Tanku published yesterday, I believe.

01:50I can only think of one word to describe it, and that word is asinine.

01:56MP Imbert also appeared to weigh in on Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hussein's response

02:01to a question from the media about the attendance of the Prime Minister

02:06and members of a cabinet at a recent UNC public meeting.

02:10On Monday night, we did not have members of the judiciary.

02:13We did not have all arms of law enforcement in terms of the Defence Force and so on.

02:18You can't compare these two situations,

02:21of a Monday night forum and the Independence Day parade.

02:24The opposition MP gave his estimate of the number of armed state security personnel,

02:31usually at the parade.

02:33If the cabinet feels safe to assemble in some area of the country at night,

02:40maybe ten police guards in them,

02:42how can they feel unsafe at the Independence parade in the morning,

02:47in daylight, with one thousand armed persons around them?

02:52The opposition said the government is seeking to create a distraction from issues

02:56such as how the government intends to finance its upcoming budget.

03:00Jewel Brown, TV6 News.

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