Former prime minister Patrick Manning says citizens of T&T must be on "high alert" for what is before the nation. He said so in a release yesterday. It was issued hours after Manning posted on Facebook that "in defence of a nation under siege, I will break my silence." He then indicated he had scheduled a news conference for his constituency office, San Fernando, at 11 o'clock this morning. Manning said after 18 months in Opposition "it is time to critically examine what has taken place in Trinidad and Tobago." The released said Manning had more than 40 years of political experience, with 12 years as prime minister. He said he was "prepared to defend the nation at whatever cost."
He said the press conference "is centred on ensuring that citizens are made aware and to place the country on high alert of the fate that lies before us." He added: "The siege which has been epitomised by the present Government must end." Manning was suspended from Parliament last year for effectively one month, for certain statements he made about Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's private residence in south Trinidad. He then staged a seven-day walk from the Parliament, Port of-Spain, to his San Fernando constituency.
Earlier this month, Manning, while seated in Parliament, said he dared the Government to arrest both former executive chairman of Urban Development Corporation of T&T, Calder Hart, and himself for alleged wrong-doing on their respective parts. Days later Persad-Bissessar released the contents of a report by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) on allegations of discrimination and other breaches of the Financial Assistance (Scholarships) Programme under the former Community Development Ministry in the Patrick Manning government.
Persad-Bissessar also read what she said was a hand-written advice from Manning to the then Community Development Minister, which read: "Handle this quietly." Manning has been largely silent in the past 18 months since his Government was defeated in a general election called two years before it was constitutionally due.