Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh defended his decision to break ranks with his party and vote in favour of the passage of the pensions clause of the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill brought by the Government at Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives.
In a statement yesterday, Singh said that the Opposition United National Congress "must stay true to the vision and principles by which it held Government in the past if it is to remain a true alternative to the present administration".
"On Friday night, I voted at the committee stage for the clause regarding the pension for legislators and judges which differed from the position of the parliamentary Opposition. I must offer this explanation to my constituents of Chaguanas West, and to the people of Trinidad and Tobago on why I took this decision," he said.
"It must be said that the same principle by which I supported the increased pensions for the president, judges, and legislators was my guide in voting against amendments to The Freedom of Information Act. It has always been the way in which I conducted myself and carried out my public duties as a legislator and previously, a Cabinet minister, and chief executive of WASA."
Singh said that the pensions clause addressed the small pensions to a limited group of former legislators and judges.
"I know personally of a number of retired Members of Parliament whose lives have become extremely difficult because of the small amount they now receive," he said.
"While I agree that there are many in our country who have done yeoman service for their families, community, and nation, this to me represents a start by which a new Government can comprehensively approach improving the quality of life for the people of Trinidad and Tobago," he said.
"It would be unconscionable for today’s legislator to turn away from the silent suffering of former parliamentary colleagues on either side of the aisle. Equally, it is unconscionable that this is being done, apparently, in a vacuum and so many of our citizens are also suffering silently," Singh said.
Singh said that when the People’s Partnership was in Government in 2014, it introduced similar legislation to the Parliament regarding pensions of legislators.
He said in 2009 the Opposition UNC supported similar legislation.
"For me to have changed that support, for the sake of political one-upmanship would have been to sacrifice the public good, and to fly in the face of the very principle which motivated us as a Government," he said.
He said while some supporters of the Opposition may have had reservations with his support for the pensions clause, "people must first know what motivated action before they decide whether it was a good or bad one. And my duty is to ensure that my constituents and the people of Trinidad and Tobago understand why I gave support to the amendment".
Singh's support did not impact the passage of the bill because of the Government's majority in the House.
“The bill might have passed with or without Opposition support, but the concept of principle is not to simply use one’s vote and voice for politics, but for the good of a nation that will carry on after us. The people who will govern this country are watching closely and may pattern their actions and approaches by ours, so we have a duty to do the right thing and set some form of leadership example," he said.
"My position remains the same because it was not one made in the heat of debate, it was one made to preserve the principle upon which the UNC held office, and will again hold office," Singh said.