Statements made by former Independent senator Rev Daniel Teelucksingh have not been favourably met by some MPs who said his comments were unfair. At his Sunday morning worship at St Charles Presbyterian Church, Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas, Teelucksingh described MPs as “absentee landlords.” “They own the constituency, they own the place but they are never there. We need a little more identification than what we have been seeing within recent times,” he had said. Nileung Hypolite, representative for Laventille West, said yesterday for someone to really understand the extent of work of an MP that person should have a first-hand experience. “I really don’t know if Mr Teelucksingh really understands the extent of work an MP has to put in and it’s a bit unfair for him to make those comments. “An MP not only looks after the affairs of a country but has a family, is an employer or employee and depending on where he or she sits, that person also has to be in Parliament,” Hypolite said.
Saying he was “not always throughout” his constituency, Hypolite said he tried his best to meet with constituents and attended functions. “On Saturday gone I attended four functions back-to-back. I mean there are only 24 hours in a day and that’s why we have a constituency office to meet those you did not meet on walkabouts,” he added. Teelucksingh also said the influx of politicians giving gifts, kissing babies and hugging anybody during regular walkabouts for the upcoming Chaguanas West by-election was an attempt to win votes and that was bad politics.
However, he said there was much more to campaigning than meets the eye and people needed to understand that. Hypolite added: “The six weeks leading up to any election is intense. You have to go through the constituency for people to get to know you. You have to stop everything else you’re doing.” After an election more challenges could arise, Hypolite said.
He said some would have to return to their private jobs while others would have to perform other functions, including going to national events. Clifton De Coteau, MP for Moruga/Tableland and Minister of National Diversity and Social Integration, said he read Teelucksingh’s statements “with interest” adding that the reverend should not “broadbrush” every MP. “I wonder who he (Teelucksingh) is sending a message to? I think he should come out and pinpoint who he’s really talking about,” De Coteau said. He agreed, however, it was critical for people to see their MP and for the MP to be part of the community, whether it be a wake or a graduation function. “But the work of an MP is very challenging, especially if you have a ministry to run and if you are based in Port-of-Spain. Whether you like it or not people want to see you because they put you there and MPs have to be aware of that,” De Coteau added. He said on Sundays he would drive around his constituency to greet people and listen to their concerns.
But this practice should be not be done only when it was election time, he said. “I don’t support that stupidness. You have to be out there. When statements are made like the ones Rev Teelucksingh made you have to step up and evaluate your own act, ” he added. Former Couva North MP Basdeo Panday, however, believes that for MPs to efficiently seek the needs of constituents there must be constitutional reform. He said when an MP was elected there was “nothing really” the person could do because all the decisions were made by government. Even issues relating to infrastructure were handled by the local government and the MP could only make recommendations, he said. “Rev Teelucksingh is thinking about human reform but what we really need is constitutional but I seem to be the only voice in the wilderness clamouring for it,” Panday added.