leeanna.maharaj@guardian.co.tt
President Paula-Mae Weekes says although there were some things she was unable to accomplish during her time in office, she has no regrets.
In an interview on Tobago Channel 5, she said it is too soon to speak about her legacy but she is confident she answered the call to serve the country.
“I said, okay, well you have five more years in you to do national service, and that’s what I did. So, I have absolutely no regrets. I’ve had an opportunity only five people other than I, up to now, have been able to do and it was a most interesting experience,” she said.
President Weekes said there were a few things she had hoped to progress with, including making the President’s role more public.
“I had really hoped that I would have been able to have whipped President’s House into the foremost public office in the country. That has not come to pass for many reasons, but I dare say, I think we have made some headway. There has been some improvement,” she said.
Another shortcoming, she admitted, was that some of the promises she made in 2020 for more educational programmes did not come to fruition due to COVID-19 and a lack of adequate finances.
“Over time, we tried to get it done, but then we had financial problems because this is an expensive business. In the way we were thinking of doing it, we could not get funds for it.
“Now, I think it would surprise people to know that President’s House operates in terms of financial affairs just like every other government office so, there’s a vote, we have heads. Money can only be spent under a specific head and there was no head that allowed us to spend the amount of money we needed. So, I am sorry that I will be leaving office without having got that education programme off the ground,” she said.
President Weekes revealed that during her presidency she received letters from citizens. However, she admitted that some of those letters disturbed her.
“I am very concerned, there seems to be a great deal of mental illness and instability among our population if we use the number of letters that we get and balance it against the letters written by let me say, those who appear to be rational on the face of it,” she said.
“There are a lot of people writing me who are mentally disturbed, whether or not that condition has been brought about by dealing with these troubles for so long that it has derailed them, or whether there were previous underlying problems that made them unable to cope.”
She added that there is also a lack of awareness among citizens of the roles and functions of the President, giving them expectations she was unable to meet.
Asked about the next President of T&T, Weekes said she wishes her successor all the best. She also expressed her hope for a more inclusive nation, stating that some adjustments needed to be made.
One of her wishes is to see a more inclusive nation, where there is less division and different cultures can be fully embraced. As an example, she recalled a Defence Force parade that opened with Christian prayers when many people following religions such as Hinduism and Islam were present.
“I think, it’s a bit of tone-deafness. Nobody sets out to be offensive or not to recognise others, but you just do what you’ve always done, without realising that society is changing. As they say, we’re getting woke, and so some adjustments will need to be made along the way,” she said.
CoP Merit List fiasco a defining moment
President Paula-Mae Weekes was T&T’s first female President but she also created some unwanted history as well.
For the first time in the nation’s history, there was an attempt to remove a President from the office they occupied.
It followed months of controversy surrounding a CoP merit list that was withdrawn.
As the Police Service Commission (PSC) began its search for a new Police Commissioner in 2021, allegations of political interference brought the process into disrepute in September. It was alleged that there was a meeting on August 12th between President Weekes, a government official and the then-PolSC chair Bliss Seepersad at President’s House to discuss the merit list. The government official allegedly submitted information on then-police commissioner Gary Griffith. The president’s office accepts the nomination list before submitting it to Parliament.
Weekes found herself embroiled in controversy when it was revealed a merit list was submitted to her on August 11, 2021, and subsequently withdrawn a day later.
After months of controversy, the Electoral College met on October 21, 2021, to vote on removing Weekes from office. The independent bench did not support the motion which required a two-thirds majority, and it failed with a final vote of 24 in favour and 47 against. - With reporting by Ryan Bachoo