The United National Congress has now accused the media of harassing the political leader of the party on the claim recently made by Marlene McDonald that it was Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar who told her that she was going to be arrested.
The party is clearly attempting to play smart with foolishness.
The role of the media in a fair and democratic society is to do fair and factual reporting. That is simply what we were doing when we sought out the Opposition Leader to get her side of the story in a matter which is clearly of significance to John Public.
Had the Opposition Leader responded to questions raised about the incident from day one, there would have been no need for the media to be constantly calling her to get her side of the story.
As it is now, Persad-Bissessar appears to be hiding behind the UNC’s public relations machinery, which now accuses the Prime Minister et al of telling lies but without any clear statement from the party’s leader on what transpired.
The UNC has advised the PM and his Government to “go back to the drawing board and get their lie straight.” It has also noted that “Rowley, Marlene and Faris all have contradictory details in their fable. All three have different timelines, all three have no evidence.”
But the UNC still has not said whether Persad-Bissessar indeed had a conversation with McDonald, nor is there a categorical denial that any such conversation relating to a police investigation or imminent arrest ever took place.
Instead, the UNC, in turning the tables on the Government, is now accusing the Rowley-led administration of a “ploy” to bring the legal matter involving the Port-of-Spain South MP into disrepute in order to “assist” McDonald in escaping the charges. Furthermore, it has pledged to “ensure” that the “nefarious plot” does not occur and the party said it will “bolt Marlene McDonald to Keith Rowley’s chest.”
Plot or not, the Opposition Leader owes it to the people of this country to give her side of the story and to speak openly, not hide behind a press release as has been the case since Rowley made the claim in Parliament.
If the conversation McDonald and the PM claims took place did not, then Persad-Bissessar needs to just say so. If she has evidence that the PM, Attorney General and McDonald is lying, she is the only one who can prove it. Speak up Mrs Persad-Bissessar and stop joining the queue who wants to shoot the media every time something is wrong.