Leader of the Opposition Dr Keith Rowley says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is committing “serious breaches of protocol.” In a statement yesterday, Rowley said over the past weeks Persad-Bissessar had arrived at major events after the President and on occasion she had also addressed major functions after the President had spoken.
“These actions are wholly unacceptable and we feel the Prime Minister needs to be reminded of her role and function as Prime Minister and that of the President as Head of State,” Rowley said in his statement. Rowley said last weekend Persad-Bissessar committed even more serious breaches in protocol during the visit of the President of China Xi Jinping.
“It was most appalling to see our Head of State trailing behind not only the Prime Minister, but also behind lesser dignitaries, almost lost in the crowd.” Rowley said such protocol errors should not occur since they fell within the ambit of the public service. He said the breaches called into question “whether the requisite public service functions are being exercised by public servants or are being usurped by persons unknown to the embarrassment of the nation.”