An insult to Caricom election observers

THE EDITOR: Having seen what purports to be a letter sent by the Prime Minister to the Caricom secretary general, it is clear his government never intended for there to be observers for the general election.

The letter, dated July 9, gives Caricom a deadline of July 24 for potential observers to arrive in TT, whereupon they would go into state-supervised quarantine. The letter adds, “Members of election observation missions therefore would need to apply for and obtain an exemption to enable entry into Trinidad and Tobago from the Minister of National Security.”

How ridiculous, to say nothing of insulting, is it to invite someone into your country and tell them, in the same breath, that they need to ask for permission to come?

The absurdity gets worse when the PM further writes, “In which case, a request for such exemption for persons from the sponsoring agencies on their behalf will be considered with dispatch.”

So after responding to your request for them to enter the country, potential observers are being told their entry will be considered.

Any self-respecting Trini who receives such an invitation would not only refuse it outright but might go further to cuss out the person issuing such an insult.

The obvious question then becomes: what does Rowley and his government have to fear from the presence of election observers?

ANIL GOORAHOO

via e-mail