Former Progressive Empowerment Party leader Phillip Alexander has confirmed that the recent successful lawsuits against him by Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Patriotic Front leader Mickela Panday were what caused him to quit public life and resign as PEP leader.
Alexander confirmed this to Guardian Media on Thursday following a query about his decision to resign, which he announced last Sunday.
In October, the court ordered Alexander to pay Imbert $525,000 in damages after losing a defamation case concerning false allegations against Imbert in 2020.
On Tuesday, Alexander was ordered by the court to pay $850,000 in compensation to Panday for defamation for false remarks about Panday preceding the 2020 general elections.
Asked if this caused the decision to quit public life, Alexander said,”Absolutely. “
He claimed,”The use of the courts to silence political opponents should be a worry to every free-thinking citizen of T&T. I’ll be saying more on this in the near future.”
In a subsequent statement, Alexander said, “Members of the public have been noticing these seemingly endless lawsuits and accompanying awards and have been asking me about them. Some have asked if this is in any way connected to me stepping out of politics. The short answer is yes.I needed to insulate the party we built while I attempted to deal with all of it.”
“There have in fact been ten of these lawsuits in different stages of completion. I believe it is time the public was made aware and brought up to date with all of it and the hundreds of thousands in legal fees alone it has cost so far.
Alexander, who had said he would be hosting a press conference in the near future to share whatever he can, also said, “Because of my voice, there is a Commission of Enquiry into the divers’ deaths at Paria. Because of my voice, people of every race and class could once again use Wildflower Park without being chased by security guards. Because of my voice, the handicapped have reserved parking spaces. Because of my voice, no one dies due to vehicular accidents at Gandhi Village roundabout any more. Pitbulls no longer maul children to death and the Children’s Authority Act was passed into law.”
“I am the voice that etched Akiel Chambers and Andrea Bharatt’s names into permanent history, so no one forgets. Diego Martin residents no longer take hours to get home. Moruga got its roads repaired and upper Rich Plain got water for the first time in 62 years. Without holding public office, I ‘ve done more for more people for free than any other politician alive or dead,” Alexander added, thanking everyone for support.
Also among those moving off the scene, blogger Rhoda Bharath confirmed on a recent video that it would be the last “live” from her for awhile and she couldn’t say exactly when she’d be back doing a “live”.
She said she’d talk about certain topics on that show before she took a hiatus from social media as she needed to take a break and it was “important and imperative” to take that break.
Bharath was spotlighted in October when found guilty of contempt regarding an August court order that restrained her from re-publishing certain defamatory statements made against former police commissioner Gary Griffith.