Analysts say PM ‘testing political waters’ with swan song to Parliament

Lead Editor – Newsgathering

chester.sambrano@guardian.co.tt

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley told the Parliament that he did not know how long he would remain in politics but had done his duty to the country.

At the very end of his contribution to the Budget debate on Thursday, Rowley alluded to the apparent parliamentary swan song (final performance or activity of a person’s career) delivered by Mayaro MP Rushton Paray when he spoke on Monday.

“I am now in my tenth year as Prime Minister, I too may be a swan. But ladies and gentlemen, colleagues in this house as long as I could leave here having done the best for the people of Trinidad and Tobago it doesn’t matter when I leave, but I’ll leave here with my head held high,” he said.

He also indicated to House Speaker Brigid Annissette-George that it had been a pleasure working with her as parliamentary Speaker.

“I don’t know how much longer I will have in this Parliament but I have done my duty, I have kept the course, I have run the race and I look forward not for a pot of gold but for my family at the end of this rainbow,” he said.

In assessing the Prime Minister’s statements yesterday, political analyst, Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said that as a politician Rowley may be testing the PNM’s political waters.

“Politicians are a funny kind of people, they throw things outside there not necessarily because they want to have the right answer but they throw it out there to see what feedback it gets and depending on the feedback that will then drive them to make certain decisions,” he said.

A similar view was shared by another political analyst Dr Winford James, who felt that as Prime Minister, Rowley should have been more clear in what he was trying to say.

He too guessed that the Prime Minister could be on somewhat of a political fishing expedition.

“It can also be that he was looking to draw out the possible hopefuls, those who are likely to want to replace him,” James said.

But that aside the question of whether the Prime Minister was setting the tone for a general election arose.

Ragoonath said it was a strong possibility as well that the polls could be sooner rather than later.

He said certain things are very telling for example the PNM (People’s National Movement) has already started selecting candidates for constituencies currently held by the UNC (United National Congress) and it looks like they may be looking to short-circuit the screening process for their incumbent seats.

“Bearing in mind the UNC has failed to get off the block in selecting candidates. If the PNM wants to take advantage of a situation, it can have an election before December and the PNM will catch the UNC with their pants down literally and they will take back the government,” Ragoonath said.

Notwithstanding the speculation, Rowley has not offered any clarity on his political future.

Guardian Media reached out to the Prime Minister for more information on what he meant by his statements in the Lower House but he did not respond up to late yesterday evening.

Rowley was first elected Prime Minister in 2015 and again in 2020. He was appointed to the Parliament as a Senator in 1987 and was subsequently elected and re-elected for nine consecutive Parliamentary terms.

He is the Member of Parliament for Diego Martin West.

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