Young: UNC election call a ‘pappyshow’

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young speaks at yesterday’s post Cabinet media conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young speaks at yesterday’s post Cabinet media conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB

MINISTER in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young yesterday described a threat by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to ask the court to compel Government to call council by-elections as “a grand charge.”

At the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, Young said, “I think that we say that is a pappyshow.”

He said he had not seen two pre-action protocol letters Persad-Bissessar spoke about at a United National Congress (UNC) meeting in Tableland on Monday.

However, Young explained, “The legal advice was that there was no time frame in which by elections (in Belmont East and Barataria) can be called as opposed to a by-election in a seat of the House of Parliament or one of the constituencies.”

Young, who is also the People’s National Movement (PNM) public relations officer, added, “The Cabinet will announce the dates for the by-elections.” On Wednesday, the PNM announced Nicole Young and Kimberly Rae-Ann Small as the party’s candidates for Belmont East and Barataria respectively. These districts were left vacant by the deaths of their respective PNM councillors, Darryl Rajpaul and Pernell Bruno.

The UNC has not named its candidates for these districts as yet.

Young also queried claims from the UNC about being surprised by Government amendments to the Anti-Gang Bill 2018. The bill was passed in the Senate on Wednesday night, with 29 senators voting for it, none opposing and none abstaining.

Young said, “They would have had to have participated in any amendments being made.”

Recalling the bill was passed in the House of Representatives in March and needs to return there to approve the Senate’s amendments, Young said the Opposition promised to support the bill and waits to see what they will do “in the last round.”

In a statement, the UNC said it supported the bill’s passage in the Senate. However, it said Government slipped a number of offences into the bill, including misbehaviour in public office and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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