AG: Kamla constantly absent from Parliament

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has criticised Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for her frequent absences from Parliament.

He was contributing to debate on The Finance Bill in the House on Friday. “The most absent leader, never present in Parliament. Day to day I wonder why.”

He said there was report that someone was ill in Persad-Bissessar’s family (it was later confirmed to be her husband) and he “offered strength to our colleague. But she is constantly absent. That is a fact.”

He said records at Parliament are on Hansard and at the Cabinet and sub-committees secretariat show her absences. He pointed that the energy subcommittee which the prime minister chairs Persad-Bissessar did not attend a single meeting for her entire tenure as prime minister.

Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis also raised the issue of her absences from Parliament in October during a PNM post-budget meeting last night held at the Arima Town Hall. She said the PNM takes attendance at Parliament very seriously and the Prime Minister was at every sitting once he was in Trinidad.

“The Leader of the Opposition consistently misses Parliament. The only time she comes to Parliament is when one of her members has a ‘bomb’ to drop.