The Trinidad and Tobago government failed yet again to pass whistleblower legislation after opposition legislators Friday signalled their refusal to support the bill that needs a special majority to become law.
Parliament adjourned to next Friday without taking a vote on the matter following a day long debate in which both government and opposition legislators accused each other of harbouring sinister motives for the legislation.
As he winded up debate on the matter, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley told legislators that ‘we need to get serious in Trinidad and Tobago,” adding that “the time has come, if it is not long past, to stop the foolishness taking place in Trinidad and Tobago.
He dismissed as a “fallacious and self-serving argument” the position adopted by opposition lawmakers that there was no need for such legislation.
But Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad Bissessar, had earlier described the bill as a “legal nightmare” that would infringe upon the rights of citizens to seek redress in the courts if they have been wrongly accused as a result of the legislation.
“This law is very very bad law,” she said predicting that it would be struck down by the courts since it would be a “major constitutional breach” of the rights of citizens.
But government legislators denied that the bill infringed upon the rights of citizens with Finance Minister Colm Imbert indicating that once it is demonstrated that the person knew what they were saying was false, the provisions within the...
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