Rowley ‘the lowest of the low’

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has been branded a sexist by the Opposition UNC and social media users for his comparison of a golf course to a woman in Parliament on Thursday.

“A golf course is like a woman, you have to groom her every day otherwise it turns into a pasture,” Rowley told the Lower House while defending a $3 million allocation in the 2018 budget to upgrade the Chaguaramas Golf Course.

The Opposition UNC and social media users criticised his comment as sexist and misogynistic, but PNM’s Women’s League chairman Camille Robinson-Regis defended Rowley saying he was not being offensive.

On Facebook, a Tobago woman said Rowley was “the lowest of the low.”

“He makes Tobago men look crude and primitive.”

Another woman called Rowley a hypocrite as on one day he was celebrating local activists on International Women’s Day while on another, he’s making sexist remarks.

“While he stands in the presence of all these women he sings their the praises yet, with the slither of his tongue, manages to hurl insults and disrespect the women of an entire nation.”

She wanted to know what the Prime Minister’s wife, Sharon, and two daughters, as well as Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George and Robinson-Regis thought about what he said.

“Lemme hear you. You all not shame?” the woman asked.

Men too were critical of Rowley, with one man describing the Prime Minister as having been “groomed in the gutter.”

“Disrespectful and downright demeaning” was how the UNC Women’s Arm felt about the remark and demanded an apology from Rowley.

“The sexist undertones are undeniable (and) will no longer be tolerated... The women of today are strong and courageous and we will stand up against sexism and the apparent misogynistic tendencies of this present PM,” the women’s arm public relations officer Vidya Ramlogan said in a release.

The party’s PRO Anita Haynes, in a separate statement, made her case for why Rowley is not a suitable Prime Minister.

“Instead of addressing any of the many issues currently plaguing the country, including rampant crime, the failing economy or persistent job losses, Dr Rowley chose to use his budget presentation to degrade the women of this country. The Prime Minister has once again shown why he is not fit to lead.”

Haynes argued that Rowley’s comments once again showed his lack of respect for women, for the office that he holds and for the Parliament.

But Robinson-Regis, the Planning and Development Minister and Arouca/Maloney MP, told Newsday she “took no offence” and thinks the national conversation should instead be focused on Rowley’s substantive contribution that day.

“I didn’t think anything of it really. He said it in the context of the speech. I really didn’t think he was either out-of-line or sexist and I took no offence. Have people looked at what he said in the rest of his speech?”

Robinson-Regis lamented “not hearing anybody talking about all the things he said, including signing the MoU with Sandals and encouraging us to work together to make sure that TT gets out of a very challenging situation in which the last administration placed us. I really think those are the things the people of TT should focus on.”

When told about criticisms on Facebook, Robinson-Regis said they were disrespectful to Rowley.

Although she felt Rowley’s comparison was “highly inappropriate and unnecessary,” co-founder of the Powerful Ladies of Trinidad and Tobago Gillian Wall, believed people were also being disrespectful in their criticism.

“Our leaders continue to engage in language that’s highly inappropriate. It’s reflective of levels of ignorance and disrespect for our women, of what’s appropriate and not when communicating to the people they serve.”

Regarding the mean comments on social media, Wall said this is reflective of “the mindless of our society.” “We comment about how someone is being disrespectful and then our language continues to perpetuate the same.”

Sending a message to Rowley, Wall said, “When the PM is ready, I’m happy to meet him on the golf course.”

Rowley sparked uproar in September for describing as “jammetry” Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s disclosure of a Petrotrin audit report alleging fraud by a company owned by a friend of his. He was also criticised in 2015 for “she cat” talk when he led the opposition and Persad-Bissessar was prime minister. Rowley apologised for that remark.