00:00On Thursday, Lavental West MP Kari Marcel said that the government views PNM people as being of African descent, further
00:07stating that, quote, they hate us and we hate them, end quote.
00:11Marcel has since clarified that his comments referred to the relationship between the PNM and the UNC rather than the
00:18country's ethnic groups.
00:20Political scientist Dr. Bishnu Raghunath believes the controversy highlights the need for a broader national discussion on race and identity.
00:29And I agree with with with Penelope Becker that the PNM is a sense of the old party that has
00:36always seemed to want to be inclusive.
00:41I think Kari Marcel has taken it now to a level where we will now have to the government and
00:49the opposition will have to come to some sort of agreement as to how they deal with this issue.
00:54He points to committees and entities set up in the past, such as the UE Center for Ethnic Studies, established
01:01under the Patrick Manning administration in 1993 to deal with race and ethnic relations.
01:07It is now becoming a little bit out of hand, especially when we expect that members of parliament would be
01:15the ones who would be leading the way and not necessarily the ones who would be triggering issues that could
01:25be considered challenging for the society.
01:31According to the political scientist, guidance should be provided to the young politician from within his party.
01:37He notes that both parties are made up of members from different ethnic groups and as such states that the
01:43broad brushing by Marcel is not practical.
01:46Dr. Raghunath says politicians have exacerbated the race issue.
01:51He shares that in times past, Indotrinbegonians were viewed as having economic wealth, while Afro-Trinbegonians were seen as having
01:59political power.
02:24Dr. Raghunath says while it may not be accurate, it is a perception that must be dealt with.
02:30He believes in moving ahead from where it stands now, the approach to a resolution must be bipartisan and purposeful.
02:37The Prime Minister simply said that, look at my decomposition of my cabinet, and that I think is too simplistic
02:47a response.
02:49We may need now to get into some sort of commission or something to start real discussion and put the
02:58issue of race on the table.
03:00Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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