00:00Top of the news, the political rhetoric surrounding the special operations bill is intensifying with opposition chief whip Marvin Gonzalez
00:09sharply criticizing Prime Minister Kamala Pesan-Besasa over her description of independent senators as deadbeats.
00:17The prime minister made the remark while defending her position on the bill and the role of independent Senate bench.
00:24Gonzalez is now accused her of using divisive language against citizens who do not share the government's views.
00:32The prime minister on Thursday, hours after the controversial special operations bill was passed in the upper house with the
00:39support of not a single independent senator, call them Satan's helpers for voting against it.
00:47Pesan-Besasa said they are a group of scumbags and satanic to, according to WHO, vote to protect drug traffickers,
00:56to protect rapists, and to protect violent criminals.
01:00Those comments have drawn a strong response from opposition chief whip Marvin Gonzalez.
01:05He says the prime minister's latest comments are part of what he describes as a pattern of attacks against people
01:13who disagree with the government.
01:15Gonzalez tells TV6, quote, the prime minister continues to spew vile and hatred on citizens who do not share her
01:24views or sip from the cup of her political party, end quote.
01:29But Pesan-Besasa's criticism of the independent bench dates back to January, during debate over the zones of special operations
01:36bill.
01:36Back then, she described members of the bench as shameless, bootlickers and brown nosers who lacked the courage to contest
01:45an election.
01:46Pesan-Besasa also said two independent senators had approached governments seeking personal favors in exchange for their votes in favor
01:54of the Zoso bill.
01:56Gonzalez accused Pesan-Besasa of governing primarily for supporters of the United National Congress.
02:02He said, quote, she has made it pellucidly clear that she is not the prime minister of the people of
02:08Trinidad and Tobago, but in fact, the prime minister of the followers of the UNC, end quote.
02:15Gonzalez also takes aim at the prime minister personally, saying she presented herself differently during the election campaign.
02:22He says, quote, she fooled the nation by pretending to be an attractive political lady, and now that she has
02:29gotten their votes, she has now emerged to be, in fact, a political lajablas with cloven heels exposed to a
02:38shocked and traumatized population, end quote.
02:41He says the government should remember that political authority ultimately rests with voters.
02:46He said, quote, the prime minister will one day learn that power belongs to the people, and the people will
02:52one day call her to the seat of political judgment, end quote.
02:57The latest exchange comes as the Senate passed the special operations bill amid continued disagreement over how and where the
03:05proposed powers should be applied.
03:06Independent Senator Michael de la Bastide has separately described the prime minister's remarks about independent senators as vitriolic, questioning why
03:15debate over the legislation had descended into personal attacks.
03:20Gonzalez concludes by predicting political consequences for the prime minister and the UNC, saying, quote,
03:27quote, and will reward her with a fate that will bury her legacy and that sent the UNC into the
03:35political wilderness where it belongs, end quote.
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