Browne calls out Gopeesingh in Senate: Political hypocrisy of the lowest order

FOREIGN and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne condemned temporary Opposition Senator Dr Tim Gopeesingh for unjustly attacking the efforts of public health officials leading the national response against the covid19 pandemic.

Browne also questioned Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial's description of the Opposition Leader as a freedom fighter. He told Lutchmedial the Senate was not a platform to promote personal interests.

In his contribution to the budget debate in the Senate, Browne said he has great respect for Gopeesingh as a doctor and his former teacher at the Medical Faculty at the University of the West Indies. He noted Gopeesingh's comments about having taught three top public health officials who frequently address the nation about covid19.

Referring to the reiterated attack that Gopeesingh made against these officials's credibility and competency, Browne said, "This is political hypocrisy of the lowest order."

He cited an August 30, 2020 Facebook post by Gopeesingh in which Gopeesingh disclosed he was recovering from covid19 and expressed gratitude for the medical treatment he received.

Browne reminded senators that the treatment which Gopeesingh received and the covid19 protocols which he willingly obeyed, were guided by the same officials he openly condemned on Tuesday. He said this was a cowardly approach because none of those officials could come into Parliament and defend themselves against Gopeesingh's allegations.

Browne said Gopeesingh's claims were reflective of recycled, baseless allegations made by several UNC members and reflected the UNC's continuing inconsistency on covid19.

"They want to hunt with the hounds and run with the foxes at the same time."

To Gopeesingh's claim that Government should not accept free donations of medical supplies from foreign countries but buy them, Browne said this was in keeping with a UNC view that such equipment should be bought at inflated costs to benefit certain people. He disclosed that the US government recently donated a PCR machine to help Government with its covid19 response and reflected continued good TT-US relations.

Browne added that the UNC pretends to be unaware that, in different parts of the world, some people have been attempting to use the pandemic to illegally enrich themselves. He said the approach taken by Government has eliminated any such potential avenues for corruption.

Describing Lutchmedial's earlier contribution as "a breathless, scattershot attack, totally disorganised and sometimes disappointing," Browne said Lutchemedial appeared to be obsessed with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi. He said Lutchmedial's seeming obsession with Al-Rawi saw personal references and references to "ongoing serious cases before the courts of Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere, complete with conflict of interest," entering her contribution.

He advised Lutchemedial that the Senate "is not place for the pursuit of private practice...is not the place for the pursuit of anyone's private practice." The Senate, Browne continued, "is not the place for the pursuit of professional jealousy..of any personal agendas."

He questioned Lutchmedial's praise of Persad-Bissessar as a freedom fighter. Referring to the state of emergency (SoE) in 2011 when Persad-Bissessar was prime minister, Browne asked Lutchmedial, "Where was she (Persad-Bissessar)..where was this freedom champion..when just a few years ago...5,000 urban, young men were herded into trucks..illegally, illegitimately and denied their freedom?"

Browne said while Persad-Bissessar claimed the SoE in 2011 was a limited one, "when we checked the actual records of what was sent to His Excellency, it was not a limited SoE as claimed publicly but a full SoE."