T&T | Kamla eyes no-confidence motion against PM Rowley

PORT-OF-SPAIN,  Trinidad and Tobago, October 21, 2021 - Having failed in her efforts to remove President Paula-Mae Weekes from office, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that plans to file a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister were underway.

At a media conference on Thursday, Persad-Bissessar described the failure of the motion as an "attack on democracy" and warned that if left unchecked TT's institutions would be vulnerable to political interference.

She added that her party would continue to raise the issue even after its defeat in Parliament and said her party would commence with an "October revolution."

The Opposition Leader intimated that she would be filing  a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister in which the matter could be debated, noting that "The last time I brought a no-confidence (motion) against the Prime Minister in 2010 the government fell, so it's coming in due course.”

"This matter will be kept alive long after today until the truth is revealed, we will take it onto the people as an October revolution as happened in other countries when a constitution has failed.

"The Prime Minister will find no rock large enough to hide under or no robe thick enough to protect him from the firestorm that will come his way as a wage for treading on our sacred Constitution."

Asked to refer to which part of the Constitution allowed for debates on Parliamentary motions, Persad-Bissessar said it would take more time than the media conference would allow."I have to go into so much legalese which I will do on another day, so for the moment I would prefer to leave it at that."

Persad-Bissessar said the October revolution would include efforts from her party to challenge the government in or out of the Parliament on matters of transparency and governance.

Last Friday Persad-Bissessar announced that a constitutional motion would be filed seeking the removal of Paula-Mae Weekes from office, alleging that she was politically influenced on the selection process of a Police Commissioner after a visit from a high-office holder and therefore unfit to continue as President.

The motion was defeated by the Parliament's Electoral College during an extraordinary sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate on Thursday by a vote of 24 members for, 47 members against with no abstentions.