Gonzales accuses UNC of political extremism, playing victim

PNM MP for Lopinot/Bon Air West Marvin Gonzales has described the UNC’s behaviour in Parliament on Thursday as political extremism, and accused them of playing the victim in the eyes of the public.

In a statement on Sunday, Gonzales said he looked on in absolute horror at the conduct of the Opposition MPs and senators led by Opposition Leader Kamla-Persad Bissessar.

Comprised of all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Electoral College rejected Persad-Bissessar’s motion to have a tribunal appointed to investigate and remove President Paula-Mae Weekes from office.

Persad-Bissessar claimed Weekes allowed herself to be influenced by a top government official and breached the Constitution by failing to send an Order of Merit list, given to her by the Police Service Commission (PSC), to the Parliament for debate to select a new commissioner of police.

The President said the list was withdrawn hours later by former PSC chairman Bliss Seepersad on August 11.

Persad-Bissessar and the UNC were expecting to debate the motion but were stopped short when House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George issued guidelines on Tuesday saying all that was required under the Constitution was for members of the Electoral College to vote.

This incurred the ire of Opposition members who accused Annisette-George of trampling on their rights to speak. Angered, they interrupted the Speaker continuously seeking clarification on her ruling, and banged their desks with their hands.

Gonzales said the nation must wake up from its slumber “as our democracy is threatened by those who are playing victims…

“I urge every right-thinking citizen to join with the PNM in rejecting this anarchy, and to stand up as we have always done, for truth, honesty, and justice.”

He said of Thursday's events, “It was clear that something was afoot, and their increasingly shrill voices were only matched by their growing levels of desperation. Is it all about getting power or is it that they believe that getting power is their only way of forestalling a greater unknown threat?

“Their relentless attempts to scandalise high office holders and democratic institutions overrode any semblance of decency we hope they still possess.”

He described their conduct as bizarre, shameful, and disgusting to witness, and said they disrespected the Speaker, parliamentary staff, the Independent senators, and government members.

“(They) reduced our sacred Parliament to shame and scandal and this was played out live for citizens and the world to see.”

He said the scene solidified his belief that the party, under Persad-Bissessar’s leadership, is an extremist political organisation employing extremist political tactics which he likened to those used by former US president Donald Trump.

“The inmates are running the UNC asylum…Their sole responsibility is to attack, denigrate and ridicule national leaders and high officeholders, to destroy democratic institutions and those they have marked as their political enemies.”

Gonzales said the party is grooming its supporters to see themselves as victims by keeping them in an echo chamber of conspiracy theories.

“In order for them to be successful in their cause to wrest political power by causing chaos and confusion, their supporters must believe that our democratic systems and traditions are a farce designed to deny them of their rightful ‘inheritance.’

“Attacking the Elections and Boundaries Commission and the outcome of legitimate elections, denigrating the Presidency, desecrating the Parliament, and demeaning public officials is all part of the stratagem, lifted shamelessly out of the Trumpian playbook.”

He said, on Thursday the Red House was the epicentre of that version of political extremism. “Like the US insurgents, the UNC has adopted slogans like ‘death to democracy,’ ‘dictatorship’ etc to pretend to be the ‘defenders of democracy,’ and have now signalled their intention to go after the Speaker and the Honourable Prime Minister.