No, Mr PM, it's never personal

Prime Minister Dr Rowley -
Prime Minister Dr Rowley -

WE CONDEMN in the strongest possible terms, the Prime Minister’s attack on the media, including Newsday journalist Darren Bahaw, last Saturday when questioned about Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC.

No one is fooled by what amounted, given the totality of Dr Rowley’s responses, to a transparent attempt to deflect scrutiny and enforce the longstanding culture of secrecy promulgated by successive governments.

The PM’s inquiry on Saturday into Mr Bahaw’s past journalistic conduct was in no way relevant to the issue of whether or not the AG had misconducted himself or is unfit for office.

It is also irrelevant to the unanswered question about the Prime Minister’s own conduct in this affair which began with Dr Rowley’s decision to appoint Mr Armour to the Cabinet’s second highest post, a decision that should have involved a certain standard of due diligence as well as disclosure.

Saturday’s media conference was the PM’s first public engagement in TT since his attendance at a summit in the US three weeks prior.

In the intervening period, incredibly damaging issues relating to the AG emerged, the country was placed on high alert over a possible natural disaster, and a deadly spike in crime – so serious that even the Prime Minister himself deemed it, yet again, a public health emergency – occurred.

Members of the media were invited by the Office of the Prime Minister to cover this event and presumably to ask questions. However, it would appear what Dr Rowley really wanted was a paid political broadcast. That is the implication of the Prime Minister’s attempt to censor the line of questioning.

The attempt was amplified when deputy press secretary Abby Brathwaite took the microphone away from Mr Bahaw and told him he could not ask any more questions. People watching on State-funded TTT did not have the benefit of hearing the reporter's final queries.

Dr Rowley has now firmly established himself in the line of prime ministers who have lashed out at media personnel who were simply doing their job in the public's interest.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar famously castigated reporters for questioning her over the appointment of Reshmi Ramnarine to the SSA. Patrick Manning went unannounced to a radio station after he didn’t like something he heard on-air. Basdeo Panday’s record with the press is well known.

Dr Rowley’s attack on our journalist on Saturday carried with it the natural implication that all media personnel covering issues, including those that emerge out of his AG’s deeds, are seen to be acting out of personal malice. No, Dr Rowley, journalists do not act out of malice when doing their jobs.

The Cabinet, which must act without affection or ill will, has a duty to society to respond to questions on national issues. This is true whether a prime minister likes these questions or not.

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"No, Mr PM, it's never personal"

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