(Trinidad Guardian) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said Naparima MP Rodney Charles owes this country an apology for dining with a “racist” French parliamentarian while he represented T&T at the United Nations.
In response to questions at a media briefing yesterday, Rowley admitted that he had lost his cool in Parliament on Wednesday when he told Charles to go to Guyana during a heated exchange.
Rowley said he was not disparaging Guyana but simply telling Charles where he could go.
“I must admit that I did lose my cool at that moment because when Rodney Charles comes and plays advisor to me and T&T, it rocks my gut,” he said.
Rowley said the Nationalist Party in France is “racist” and when its leader died, his daughter Marine Le Pen, stepped in and took over.
“There was a presidential election in France and in attempting to push her candidacy, she travelled to New York hoping to raise her profile by talking to diplomats and leaders in New York,” he said.
“So offensive was that campaign and the persons associated with her that she was not even able to get the French diplomats in New York to host her because the French people did not want to associate with the nature of that campaign.
“She was not able to meet with a single diplomat in New York, except Rodney Charles of T&T who agreed to have lunch with her,” he said.
“I found that to be offensive, I continue to find Rodney Charles (to be) a person to apologise to the people of T&T who sold out our public image for a plate of food.
“And to come now in the Parliament behaving the way he is behaving and seeking to talk division between T&T and Guyana and Barbados and whoever else, it is just provoking,” the prime minister said.
Rowley said he does not interfere with the politics of any country.
“I act (respectfully) and cooperatively with every Caricom head, every one of them I regard as my colleague,” he said.
But while the Prime Minister unleashed his ire on Charles, he was much more circumspect in his response to Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Over the past few days, Jagdeo has spoken about the local economy and warned Guyana that if they rely solely on the energy sector, that country could end up like T&T. He said the T&T economy is falling apart.
When asked for a response to Jagdeo, the Prime Minister said he was “not really distracted” by Jagdeo.
“There are a lot of people in Guyana and I am not really distracted by Vice President Jagdeo’s comment about us,” he said. “A lot of people comment about us, some favourably some not but we would not be distracted by that.”