Charles tells Rowley: You lead a bi-polar Government Sir

Naparima MP Rodney Charles is accusing the Government led by Keith Rowley of being bi-polar in what it says, how it says it, and more so how it governs.

MP Charles made this comment given the many manifestly conflicting statements provided by Keith Rowley in his various propaganda addresses to the nation including last evening’s in Tunapuna.

For example, he said last night that his Government’s greatest achievement was avoiding the IMF.

Really PM?

Every economic action taken to date by your administration comes straight from the IMF playbook. These include cuts in subsidies, including the fuel subsidy, and drastically reducing expenditures in education, health, road maintenance, and social services. Our social safety net has been drastically curtailed. There have been massive layoffs from the non renewal of hundreds of contract officers in the public service, the sending home of the entire 5000 man workforce in Petrotrin and an additional 500 in TSTT with predictions of many more job losses at WASA and T&TEC.

You are more IMF than the IMF sir.

The PM, apparently unmindful of his government’s bi-polarity, attempted to sell “Conversations with the Prime Minister” as a Government program where he wanted to engage citizens. Instead, it was really a PNM political platform meeting complete with PNM party jerseys, staged applause, PNM Ministers and councillors and a partisan audience as backdrop.

In his first nation address for 2019 entitled, ‘Mind Your Business, It’s Your Business,’ he said that he met no money when he came to office. But characteristic of his Government’s bi-polarity he simultaneously showed charts providing annual figures of cash in the bank held by the State which entirely opposed his argument.

In addition he spoke about Barbados’ PM Mia Mottley going to the IMF because she met no money when she came into office. This begs the question, how was he able to avoid the IMF? It could only be because he met conservatively, over $20US billion in; the HSF, in our reserves, in uncollected taxes and sales of assets including TGU and Phoenix Gas Processors Limited.

But the greatest manifestation of PNM bi-polarity is his failed attempt to recast the PNM as caring and people friendly when this is the most anti-people Government in our country’s history.

Rowley, you smile and fire workers. You pretend to listen to CEPEP workers then inform them you cannot help. You talk about preparing citizens for the IT jobs of the future but offer them low level employment in Sandals. You talk about diversifying the economy and cannot tell us with a straight face that you will increase non oil revenues by 20% by 2020. You tell us that we have the best health care services in the Commonwealth but in the next breath you hop on a plane to get medical treatment in the US.

Your Government’s bi-polarity is very evident in your clueless Foreign Ministry. You are Maduro’s best friend but we recall CARICOM giving it’s full support to Guyana amid criticism of Venezuela’s naval incursions in Guyanese waters. Dennis Moses attended Maduro’s swearing in ceremony yesterday, but was hiding, hoping no one would see him. T&T is home to the highest per capita percentage of refugees in the Western hemisphere at 4,000 plus per hundred thousand citizens yet you are burying your heads in the sand with no refugee policy. You do not even acknowledge the presence of over 60,000 Venezuelans in our midst.

Dr Rowley can put on the nicest face possible in these PNM party charades, hopefully not funded by the taxpayer. The fact is that citizens know the truth. The plain truth is that this incompetent, bi-polar Keith Rowley incarnation of the PNM has no plan to take us forward, has created no new policies to help the poorest among us, sees back pay given to workers by the Opposition Leader, Mrs Persad-Bissessar as monies squandered and is the most anti-worker government in our history.

I suggest his advisers tell him that his Government will be judged by its performance not old talk at orchestrated PR charades.

Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima