Duke: I will not leave the PDP

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke says he will not leave the party he founded in 2016.

In a video of him being interviewed, posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Duke said that between 2013 and 2016, the PDP had no voice in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

“So, I am saying, ‘Why should I want to leave the PDP now?’ when between 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, there was no voice in the assembly.

"I know who I am, inno. I know what I have done for this country. I have given Tobago a voice when there was no voice.”

He was responding to calls in some quarters for him to step away from the party in the wake of his public feud with Chief Secretary Farley Augustine over the assembly’s treatment of 27 members of the Roxborough Folk Performers who had gone to New York to perform at Labor day celebrations.

Duke, the assemblyman for Roxborough/Argyle, claimed that apart from airline tickets for the group, the THA did not provide funding to cover their other expenses.

As a result, he said the members  were left stranded, stressed out and hungry.

Augustine has denied Duke’s version of events, saying the THA provided $400,417.50 to cover airline tickets and other expenses.

But he said the assembly could not give the group additional money, adding that Duke was aware of the constraints. The issue has led to a feud between the two.

Augustine invited Duke to attend a virtual meeting of the Executive Council on Wednesday to discuss the issues in the public domain and his future role as Deputy Chief Secretary.

But Newsday learnt the meeting did not take place, as Augustine was in Trinidad for a meeting with Finance Minister Colm Imbert about the September 26 national budget.

Augustine also posted a statement and some photos from the meeting on his Facebook page. The meeting, described as “productive and cordial,” was attended by senior officials from both the Ministry of Finance and the THA.

The THA, in its budget presentation in June, requested an allocation of $3.97 billion from central government to manage the island’s affairs for fiscal 2022-2023.

In his video on Wednesday, Duke said had it not been for him, Augustine and (Faith) BYisrael would not have been in politics.

“Farley and Faith, all of them would not have found a place in politics, because they had no interest in it. They told me straight up. At least Faith told me she had no interest because she was a technocrat.

“But I pursued them individually, even though I was charged. I was charged then, and they came on the team knowing I was a charged person, because they saw an opportunity to rescue Tobago. This is why I salute Farley and Faith.”

Duke said Augustine and BYisrael are the future of the party. “I have no problems with that.”

But he claimed that nobody has thanked him for spending his “hard-earned money” to position the party for victory in the December 6 THA election.

“Was my money running things.”

The PDP romped to a landslide 14-1 victory over the PNM in those elections. The PNM had previously led the assembly for 21 consecutive years.