1 week ago
7
Senior Investigative Reporter
Former trade and industry minister Stephen Cadiz says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s reading of the riot act to her ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) is only to appeal to her UNC supporters.
He said all the PM had to do was call a meeting and tell her Cabinet like it is. “You tell them in their face, if all yuh make one out, you are going to be dealt with.”
He said the PM should have laid the cards on the table for her ministers and MPs when she held her first Cabinet meeting after the April 28 General Election.
He said if this was done and the Persad-Bissessar had to reinforce her statement in a public meeting, it meant some ministers were defying her and clearly “not listening”.
Cadiz said threatening people to “buss their heads” means absolutely nothing to a corrupt person.
His comments came just hours after the Prime Minister delivered a blunt and uncompromising warning to her parliamentary team during the Monday Night Report in Couva, cautioning that anyone who steps out of line will be dealt with.
“I will buss your head,” Persad-Bissessar said, as she accused some of her MPs of “cavorting” with members of the Opposition People’s National Movement, corrupt contractors, and some she described as “fake elites”.
She cautioned that any MP caught engaging in questionable alliances would face public exposure, dismissal and possible legal consequences.
The PM also referenced MPs who she claimed were “liming in Hyatt” with the very people her party had vowed to hold accountable for corrupt practices.
From 2010 to 2015, Cadiz served in the People’s Partnership administration led by Persad-Bissessar.
Under this regime, Cadiz remembered Persad-Bissessar had cause to fire a few ministers when they were found guilty of wrongdoing.
He said some ministers in Persad-Bissessar’s last administration are members of her new government.
“So when you are talking about buss head and what have you, I find it a little disconcerting that you’re making this statement to the same people who have a question mark over their heads, in your previous administration.”
Cadiz said every person in this new administration should have been vetted.
“Anybody with a question mark should have been out? It is as simple as that. What are you bringing them back in for? And then you are threatening to fire them,” Cadiz told Guardian Media during a telephone interview yesterday.
Cadiz said he believed the meeting was not the time and place for Persad-Bissessar to make such a statement.
“I think you need to deal with it in a very quiet manner, making sure you have your Ts crossed and Is dotted and you are very sure about what you are doing and then you act.”
However, to threaten Cabinet ministers publicly was uncalled for.
“I feel it was only to wild up the crowd.”
A former UNC MP and minister who requested anonymity said the PM would have never made such a statement unless she had evidence or solid information from a trusted source.
“It was a public warning to her MPs and ministers, something a little bit uncharacteristic of her because while I served under her, we did not have to face public warnings. That would have been dealt with in caucus or one-on-one, depending on how she took the news.”
The former MP said she had never seen such an action by the PM before, which she described as “surprising and welcoming”.
“I think she had to make a public statement to assure her supporters.”
Asked which of the current MPs the PM may have alluded to, the former MP said it was hard to tell.
“Hyatt is a popular liming spot for politicians. It could be any MP or minister.”
Another former UNC MP said the PM’s statement was a strong message to people who are very close to her.
“But she can’t confront him on the issue. So she used a generalised forum to deliver the message to the MPs and ministers. She talked in parables there. Whoever the cap fits, let them wear it,” he said.
English (US) ·