CHESTER SAM­BRA­NO

Lead Ed­i­tor – News­gath­er­ing

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

At the very end of his con­tri­bu­tion to the Bud­get de­bate, Dr Row­ley al­lud­ed to the 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,” Dr Row­ley told the House.

“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 Bridgid An­nisette-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.

Dr Row­ley was first elect­ed Prime Min­is­ter in 2015 and again in 2020.

Dr Row­ley was first ap­point­ed to the Par­lia­ment of Trinidad and To­ba­go 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.