Rowley: Opposition leader engaging in gutter politics

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has accused Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessear of attempting to cloud the Petrotrin issue by engaging in “gutter politics” and “race baiting” instead of focusing on the company’s enormous debt burden.

“A multi billion dollar issue and that is the nature of the conversation from the other side and when the conversation does not seem to be working as well as they like they resort to my skin colour and the colour of the skin of my constituents.

I, on polling day, have no other responsibility than to ask for the vote of my constituents and the largest block of Arab, Syrian, Lebanese are in the Diego Martin West and for that I make no apology and I don’t care who they vote for, I represent them." Rowley said.

He said it was a shame and disgrace of all the people (that are on) record of TT that a former prime minister, a leader of the opposition could sink into such gutter politics, to come out of the privacy of her race baiting and to come on national television and broadcast that kind of statement to the people of TT

"When all else fail when rape fail when paedophilia fail they resort to racism but me, I from Mason Hall Tobago. That eh fazing me at all.”

He was addressing an internal elections meeting at the San Fernando City Auditorium on Thursday night.