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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