Instead of a leaders’ debate, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will now take part in a question-and-answer session hosted by state-owned Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG), tonight. After weeks of negotiations between Persad-Bissessar’s team and the Debates Commission there seems no compromise on the proposed dates of August 20 and 27.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Communication yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she would not depart from the promise she made to the people of T&T “to participate in such a historic moment in the country’s political history.” CNMG’s CEO Ken Ali said previously that it had invited Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley to participate in the debate.
The television station stated Rowley had categorically refused to participate in the debate. Rowley told the Guardian on Tuesday that he had given a commitment to the Debates Commission to take part in a debate after nomination day, August 17. The release stated that Persad-Bissessar will take part in a separate question-and-answer session on the date and at the location which were proposed by the T&T Debates Commission.
The statement said moderators external to CNMG would preside over the event. It did not provide any information about the structure of the event, whether the Prime Minister would have had sight of the questions before or who prepared the questions. The event, which will be broadcast live at 8 pm tonight on CTV and carried on the sister radio station Talk City 91.1 FM, will be 90 minutes long.
On April 19, the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the People’s Partnership (PP) both officially accepted invitations to participate in this country’s first national leadership debates ahead of the September 7, 2015, general election. Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley had written to the T&T Debates Commission agreeing to participate in the debates.
However, on July 11, the PNM rejected a proposed July 30 date for the election debate noting that the opposition party could not meet the criteria for taking part set by the commission itself until after nomination day on August 17. Persad-Bissessar had reportedly said that any date in August would not be good for her as she would be busy with her campaigning and respective functions.