United National Congress MP Rudy Indarsingh has criticised President Paula-Mae Weekes for granting an interview to the UK’s Sky News on the late Queen Elizabeth II’s passing while Weekes “refused to utter a word to local media for weeks” after the 2021 Merit List for Police Commissioner was removed under her watch.
In a statement yesterday, Indarsingh said the President’s enthusiasm to attend the late Queen’s funeral and the interview to the British media showed her double standard on various counts.
“While Paula-Mae Weekes flies abroad, she should pay particular attention to the crisis in her own country, since we never see nor hear from her at those critical times, if at all.
“I looked on in bewilderment as President Weekes conducted an interview with Sky News ahead of the (Queen’s) funeral,” he said.
The Couva South MP added, “The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a monumental loss to the United Kingdom and the world, and I’m in full agreement with the idea our country should have been represented. What I’m not in agreement with is the fact that President Weekes could barely be found anywhere in T&T but she should jet-set to London to be in the presence of world leaders.
“I looked on in disbelief as the President gave Sky News an interview but refused to utter a word to local journalists for weeks after the Merit List for the post of Police Commissioner was surreptitiously removed from her Office under her watch.
“The President didn’t utter a word of responsibility, regret or rebuke, and she hid from sight behind the curtains at President’s House from our local media,” Indarsingh said.
Indarsingh also knocked the President for not visiting the families of the four divers killed in the Paria pipeline tragedy and the relatives of crime victims.
While he noted that President Weekes said she may shed a tear for the Queen, Indarsingh advised her to show “empathy” to people in T&T “before travelling to London to shed an undoubtedly crocodile tear.”
