00:00Speaking on TV6's Morning Edition, political analyst Dr. Mukesh Bastio says that the calls being made by the government for
00:07the opposition People's National Movement to provide a proof of funds for the recent redevelopment works done on Balizir House
00:14should not be considered as, quote, a political witch hunt because there are two other independent parties involved in the
00:21matter.
00:21To address it as in the context of being a political witch hunt, we cannot neglect to understand that there
00:31are two other parties that are involved in this, and that being the duty which gave the authorization and the
00:37order for financial searches to be done.
00:40And then you have the police, which would have had an open investigation ongoing, and they would have actually presented
00:48the information to the legal judge, who would have written, signed off on the order.
00:54So these two institutions are independent institutions that have deemed it necessary, there is something to look into, and this
01:04is what is required here.
01:06Dr. Bastio thinks the matter is more related to political party financing and wealth accumulation.
01:12The whole question that we are looking at is based against the backdrop of wealth, and how wealth is accumulated,
01:22how wealth is earned, whether wealth is accumulated through legal means, or is it wealth accumulated through ill-gotten means.
01:30I think this is where the question actually lies.
01:33Dr. Bastio also harked back to the PNM's time in government from 2015 to 2025, where they passed legislation pertaining
01:41to campaign finance reform.
01:43So it is something that we need to understand where the wealth actually came from for the construction of this
01:54building, because one would understand that it is based against the backdrop of legislation, legislation that is on the law
02:02books, that was passed by the People's National Movement while in government in that period, 2015 to 2025.
02:11So it is legislation that exists, that is to prove your wealth and so forth. However, the legislation never saw
02:22the light of death become law, right? So there was discussion that was placed, right, on what you call campaign
02:30finance reform.
02:31In a release dated July 11, 2026, the PNM also pointed to the campaign finance reform legislation, saying, quote,
02:39The People's National Movement was the political party that brought forward legislation to regulate campaign financing in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:47We sought greater transparency and accountability in political financing.
02:51The UNC wanted absolutely nothing to do with those reforms and refused to support the process established to consider them,
02:58end quote.
02:59Dr. Bastio also re-emphasized the need to wait for the outcome of investigations.
03:03So I also wait to see what will be the outcome of these findings.
03:10So it is not to be used in the simplest of ways as a political witcher, but to get at
03:16some of the source of where that money was generated from.
03:20Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News.
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