‘We survived’ not meant to disparage

PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley says his “we survived” comment, when asked his thoughts on the tenure of Anthony Carmona as President, was not meant to disparage anyone but to point out the country surviving a difficult period.

He was asked to clarify the “we survived” statement yesterday at the reception for newly inaugurated President Paula-Mae Weekes at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain.

“We all have gone through some difficult periods. The country is going through a difficult period. And basically what I was saying is, whatever we are facing ,we coming through it. So we are survivors.” Rowley said he spoke briefly with Carmona yesterday and the ex-president remains a valued citizen. He wished Carmona and his family the best going forward.

“Whenever a person serves in public life, I think that in itself is worthy of commendation. And even sometimes when you think things haven’t gone your way, you have faith that history will be kinder to us as we go forward,” Rowley said. On the controversial request for sabbatical leave by Chief Justice Ivor Archie – who is instead taking six weeks vacation leave – the PM described this as an operational issue which will all take care of itself.

“I have every confidence that these matters which distracted us in recent times that they have been properly handled and we will handle these and similar matters as we go forward.” He added that these issues are not to overwhelm the country.

Asked about his “tense” relations with Carmona and how that would affect his relationship with the new president, Rowley said he did not see any connection. He added it was not the first time there had been a new president in office and all he could do is operate as expected by his oath of office.

Asked if Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George had been offered the post of President, he replied that he was not aware of this and even if she had been, he could not talk about it as it would have been a private conversation. Rowley also said he was not aware the Speaker was absent from yesterday’s inauguration. According to Parliament staff, Annisette-George was out of the country.

Asked if he had any advice for Weekes, Rowley said he is not going to be adviser to the President. He said he expects they will have a lot of common interests and the primary one will be that there is good order in the country and that she makes the best of whatever situation confronts her.

Rowley said he looks forward to working closely with Weekes and while some people feel the Office of the President is impotent or ceremonial, that is not accurate. “It is very important to set the tone and the tenor of the nation,” Rowley said.

The PM said he looks forward to Weekes’ tenure as she brings to the office a lot the country can benefit from, including the fact that she identified herself as just another citizen with, “boundless faith in our destiny.”

Rowley was also asked about his comments on Saturday at a key distribution ceremony first phase of the Vieux Fort housing project in St James in which he cited political infighting in the People’s National Movement administration in the 2000s for the delay in the project. Rowley said he does not attack people but he deals with history and facts and he has quite a grasp of historical matters, especially those he was involved in. He added it was not surprising people would misintepret what he said but any reasonable person would listen to what he said in the full context and see there was no acrimony.