(Trinidad Express) – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has dismissed the furore over Senate President Wade Mark’s repeated use of his casting vote to pass Government legislation as “manufactured outrage”, insisting yesterday he was just as independent as the nine senators appointed by the President.
With Government facing the possibility of being unable to secure the Independent senators’ support for future special-majority legislation, Persad-Bissessar was unfazed.
“If it fails, so what. We will simply find another way…” she said in response to questions from the Express.
The Prime Minister also ruled out seeking President Christine Kangaloo’s intervention if the Independent senators continue to vote against Government legislation and maintained her administration will not accept their amendments.
Asked whether having the Senate President use his casting vote to pass legislation was sustainable, Persad-Bissessar said:
“The Senate President is just as independent as the President’s senators. He’s just as independent as Christine was as Senate President and (Bridgid) Anisette-George as Speaker. I was on the edge of my seat just like everyone else waiting to see how he would vote. Tense times.”
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