Opposition Leader accused of plagiarising greeting to Biden

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been accused of plagiarising UK Opposition Leader Keir Starmer's congratulatory note to US president-elect Joseph Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris.

On Saturday, a congratulatory post on Persad-Bissessar's Facebook page read strikingly similar to Starmer's.

After screenshots of both posts were shared side by side, the post on Persad-Bissessar's page was deleted and replaced with another.

Hours later, an apology was posted, claiming it was "an administrative error."

“Today we experienced an administrative error. We apologise for this mistake and have since taken steps to ensure this does not reoccur. Apologies extended to Sir Keir Starmer.”

Although Persad-Bissessar could not be reached for comment on Sunday, a source in the UNC said the Opposition Leader had several administrators running her page and the now-deleted post was done in error.

Contender for the post of UNC leader, Vasant Bharath said of the incident, "Plagiarism is a despicable act of dishonesty...It is stealing someone else's ideas, labour and sweat and calling it your own."

The incident was also reported on at least one regional new site.

UNC activist Devant Maharaj also condemned the error.

"Plagarism is nothing short of dishonesty. The direct reproduction of someone else's work without their permission or without acknowledging them is unethical and unbecoming of a leader. Even worse, to refuse to apologise and claim it was an administrative error is a further insult to the intelligence of our membership."

Attorney Larry Lalla, speaking at a press conference hosted by Bharath on Sunday, said, "I want to address what happened last evening when it became obvious that the Facebook page was guilty of plagiarism in the most embarrassing way – by taking a statement by the leader of the opposition in the UK and reproducing that in TT.

"Then the release that is issued says that it is an administrative error. That is not an administrative error. It is fraud. It serves to further embarrass every member of this party. And the least you can do is take personal responsibility and issue an immediate apology to the leader of the opposition in the UK."