President Anthony Carmona says Independent senators must refrain from venturing into the “pit” as they go about the nation’s business over the next five years.
He made the comment yesterday during the formal opening of a two-day retreat for the nine independent senators at the Office of the President, St Ann’s.
The retreat is designed to assist the participants in performing their roles as independent senators during the 2015 to 2020 term, which started last Wednesday.
In the cinema there are usually three levels of seating for patrons, which included pit for the cheapest seats and balcony for the most expensive, Carmona told the senators yesterday.
He said the independent senators should “be the bar of excellence that is required in the Parliament.”
“Independent senators should reside in balcony but you are allowed to come down into house and you can stay in house, you can stay in house for as long as you desire but you must never venture into pit,” Carmona said.
The President said one of the distinctive features of the senators’ stewardship was to “never venture into pit.”
Carmona later defended his choice of senators, saying that the media had reported on their impressive academic qualifications but no mention was made of “your impressive human qualities.”
He said many of the independent senators were involved in sports, with NGOs, in issues pertaining to climate change, dealing with the voiceless, the disabled, the marginalised and the less advantaged.
He said the senators had the intellectual and human mix that were required of independent senators.
Carmona said it was during his interview to select the senators that he found they were outstanding in human terms, as they had “the right heart and the right calling.”
He said his choice of senators was “not based on parochial, insular or geographical considerations. It was based on appreciating the need to have proper representation of the public interest and the common good of T&T.”
Among the issues being discussed at the retreat, which is being facilitated by Douglas and Associates, are diplomacy, protocol and etiquette, assertive and effective communication and emotional intelligence.
The retreat, which is being held for the first time by the Office of the President, concludes at Kapok Hotel today.