Sports Minister Anil Roberts said Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan has no one but herself to blame for her removal from Energy to the Public Administration Ministry, because she surrounded herself with PNM advisors, contrary to advice from him and others. Speaking on a joint Congress of the People (COP) leadership meeting in Avocat, Fyzabad, on Monday night, Roberts defended Seepersad-Bachan's successor Kevin Ramnarine, a former junior minister in her ministry. Saying he had a detailed knowledge of the situation, Roberts described Seepersad-Bachan as a very intelligent woman in the energy field and very qualified.
"However, politically, she was very naive. It was not Minister Ramnarine who undermined Madam Seepersad-Bachan. Despite my protestation over a four-month consistent period, she decided to keep Andrew Jupiter as an advisor." Roberts explained. "Andrew Jupiter was a PNM advisor to Ken Julien. She kept telling me Jupiter was friendly with her in 1988. "She kept on others like Frank Look Kin, PNM advisor to Ken Julien, (and) she hired Curtis Williams (former journalist) to write her speeches. "So who undermine our Minister? It is the PNM who did it, and I am sorry she allowed the PNM to do it to her," Roberts said.
Speaking on crime and security, another candidate in the July 3 election, Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar, said he agreed with the letter of dissatisfaction sent off to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar about Seepersad-Bachan. Ramadhar said her removal was painful to the COP and to her, because she had made a stellar contribution. Attorney Vernon De Lima took umbrage with Robert's denouncement of PNM people, saying they were citizens too. He told Roberts he was out of place to chastise the PNM, when they were both former members of that party.