Kamla to Rowley: You’re in charge, man up and take responsibility
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, issues a clarion call to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley to man up to his responsibilities as Prime Minister and stop the blame game, because it will not bring any comfort and security to terrified citizens. You were red and ready and wanted to be in charge and now, you cannot lead.
It is high time Dr. Rowley stops blaming, pouting and complaining. It’s time to wake up, man up and start leading because the country is disintegrating! Rowley’s tactic of once again trying to blame the Opposition is a pathetic attempt to deflect attention from his own incompetent leadership as Chairman of the country’s National Security Council.
It is sickening that the Prime Minister would use the heinous and gruesome murders of innocent 15-year-old schoolboy Joshua Andrews and taxi driver Devon Hernandez to try to score cheap political points. At a time when the country is in mourning the Prime Minister chose to play politics with the safety and security of our women and children that have lost their lives to the criminal element.
Dr. Rowley has no vision and has failed to inspire hope and confidence in almost every sphere of life. The public consensus is that the government is intellectually bankrupt and doesn’t have a clue as to how to halt the downward spiralling myriad of problems created by its failed leadership. Far from offering any solutions to the problems facing our nation his trite response is to point fingers at the UNC and cry wolf.
Experience shows that serious crime always increases when the PNM is in power. Indeed, the empirical data of murder statistics from 2010 to present confirms that the murder rate decreases when PNM is out of power and spikes when they are in power. We challenge Dr. Rowley to explain this dangerous political phenomenon and attach a table with the annual murder statistics from 2010 to present.
Dr. Rowley’s behaviour is reminiscent of “a raging bull”. He tried to bully and intimidate the UNC into supporting a law that bites into the constitutional rights of citizens without any restriction. Why was he so insistent on the removal of a sunset clause given the immense potential for abuse of power by the state?
If he doesn’t get his way, he resorts to the blame game as he has no new ideas of his own. The UNC is not afraid to state that it acted in the public interest by insisting that the government include a sunset clause in the PNM’s Anti-Gang law. This was precisely what the People’s Partnership administration had done in order to ensure unanimous support.
The government is hell-bent on blaming everyone and everything for the terrifying tsunami of crime except the Prime Minister who is the Chairman of the National Security Council and his hapless Minister of National Security.
Since the safety and security of our citizens were placed in the hands of Dr. Rowley and Minister Dillon more than 1067 citizens of our country have been murdered, and after the country experienced more than 22 murders in the first 10 days of 2018, the Prime Minister’s only response is to blame the Opposition for not supporting the Anti-Gang Bill.
We also remind the Prime Minister of the strong objections by the Law Association to its Anti-Gang Bill[1] which the UNC had taken on board. It warned that the legislation was unconstitutional and illegal because it violated fundamental human rights. Is Dr. Rowley going to blame the Law Association for these dreadful murders as well?
It is time that Prime Minister Rowley takes responsibility for his failings and the failings of his government to protect the citizens of our country. It is time, that as head of the National Security Council, he takes responsibility for failing to provide the country with a plan and the leadership to combat the criminal element.
Given his history of deception and lies, Dr. Rowley simply cannot be trusted. This is the same regime that promised the population pre-September 2015 that they had the solution to the crime problem. It is unacceptable that after two years and four months of a Rowley-led Government being in office that they still can’t deliver to the population their 10 point plan, and the people of this country continue to fear for their lives.
The citizens of our country are no longer prepared to accept Dr. Rowley’s excuses. Someone needs to tell him that he is the Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Security Council with ultimate responsibility for the protection and safety of citizens. He needs to stop shifting blame and man up to the reality of his failure as a leader.
It is clear that this government does not have the will, knowledge, competence or ability to provide safety and security to the citizens of our country. Criminals are the only ones who feel a sense of safety and security under this administration.
This government is collapsing because of the incompetence of its leader because he refuses to man up to his responsibilities as Prime Minister. The country is suffering a slow and painful regression because the PNM’s development plan is entitled “Blame the UNC”.
We wish to remind Dr. Rowley of his own words when he served as this country’s Opposition Leader:
“Anytime a government resorts to blaming the Opposition for its failure to deliver on their mandate and their responsibilities to the people, it is a clear sign that they have accepted that they have outlived their usefulness…And if the Government can’t deal with it (Crime) then the Government itself is part of the problem.”