Akash Samaroo
Mayaro MP Nicholas Morris has defended Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s controversial Independence Day messages, saying they demonstrate her “iron-like fortitude” to stand up for people who have been left behind.
Morris, a longstanding member of the United National Congress (UNC), said Persad-Bissessar was justified in issuing a separate message to her party’s supporters and described her Independence Day addresses as a “blueprint of hope” for rebuilding the country.
His defence comes amid criticism of Persad-Bissessar for dedicating a special Independence Day message to what she called her “UNC family,” with critics arguing that the occasion should have been used to promote national unity rather than partisan interests.
However, Morris, who said he has been involved with the UNC since the age of 16 and previously served as Youth Arm chairman and on the party’s National Executive, rejected that criticism.
“The Prime Minister’s Independence Day messages represent a blueprint of hope as they demonstrate her iron-like fortitude to stand for those who have been left behind,” Morris said.
He argued that constituencies such as Mayaro had been neglected under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration and accused the previous government of placing the interests of friends, financiers and the elite ahead of citizens.
Morris said Persad-Bissessar’s message therefore reflected the circumstances inherited by the UNC when it returned to government in April 2025.
“The Prime Minister was not only accurate in her message, but rather defining in the way in which we can rebuild, restore and rejuvenate our country in the national interest,” he said.
Morris also argued that Persad-Bissessar had a duty to acknowledge the UNC base, crediting its supporters with helping the party return to government.
“The Prime Minister is even more justified to send a message to her political base because it was this base which rallied together as it has always done to save our nation from the claws of PNM destruction,” he said.
He further contended that under Persad-Bissessar’s leadership, the UNC had developed into a party representative of the wider country and was now at its strongest point.
Morris also took aim at Patriotic Front political leader Mickela Panday, who has criticised Persad-Bissessar’s message.
He described as “comical, if not hysterical” Panday’s references to “the party her father created,” arguing that Persad-Bissessar and other longstanding UNC members spent their careers building the party while Panday had previously criticised and competed electorally against it.
